Make Your Own Destiny
by writing4thewolves
Summary: Brynn Lahote is no stranger to the supernatural world. From a family of shape shifters to a vampire who nearly killed her as a kid; she can't seem to escape it. When her best friend imprints on her worst enemy, she wants nothing to do with any of it. Little does she know, the laws of imprinting have lots in store for her. She's about to become more involved than she ever imagined.
1. My Name is Annoyed

**Hi everyone! Here is the first chapter to my second fanfiction. :) Just to give you a little info, Brynn Lahote (main character) is the middle child of esteemed imprint couple, Paul and Rachel. I hope you follow her through her roller-coaster of a journey. I assure you that it's going to be a VERY good one ;)**

**For those of you who don't already know me, my first imprint fanfiction (also a second generation fic) is completed and waiting for you to read it. ;) ;)**

**And as always, please don't forget to review. They mean the world!**

**Enjoy :)**

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The waves crashed angrily against the shore of First Beach in the crisp, spring morning. The sky was a mixture of light pinks and oranges and the colours blended together as the sun slowly began to rise. The air was chilly but also held the promise of being a nice, mild day.

It was still cold enough to make me shiver as the wind rustled the ends of my hair. I moved my blue sneakers out of harm's way just in time as the waves inched closer towards me. I pulled the lip of my black windbreaker closer to the edge of my chin and rested my hands on the top of my knees as my eyes penetrated the shoreline.

I knew that it was much too early to even _think_ about being at the beach right now. The cold mist spraying up onto my face was enough to prove that to anyone. I probably should have at least waited until the sun was high in the sky. That was the golden rule—the one I had grown up with—no going out in the dark alone.

But desperate times call for desperate measures and for goodness sake, I just wanted some alone time. I was tired of feeling like everyone was breathing down my neck all the time. I felt smothered by my overprotective family members. I supposed that yes; it was nice to feel loved and I did appreciate everyone's efforts to make sure I was safe. But I _could_ take care of myself and the sooner everyone realized that, the better it would be.

I was _not_ a little kid anymore. I was a tenth grader and almost fifteen years old. I no longer needed to be babysat, despite what everyone else seemed to think.

The wind whistled again, shaking the trees behind me loudly. I hunched my shoulders further in my coat, trying to get any extra warmth that I could find. Next time I decided to sneak out of my house in the middle of the night, I needed to remember to do two things beforehand. One, I needed to make sure that it wasn't cold enough to grow icicles on my nose and two, if it _was_ cold enough to do so, to dress in a _lot_ of layers.

Despite how cold I was there was no possible way I could go home _now_. I had managed to sneak out without getting caught by anyone—a _true_ accomplishment if I did say so myself. I had to see out my success, even if it meant getting hypothermia because of it. Besides the fact that if I went home now, I would surely get caught sneaking back _in_ and then be grounded for the rest of my life. Then, all my hard work would have been for nothing.

And I was definitely _not_ up for being locked away in my bedroom until I was forty; something that Dad had threatened me with more than once before. The thing was, I couldn't tell if he was bluffing or if he was being dead serious. I wasn't willing to take the chance either way.

Part of my success was covered by the slight concern that was beginning to turn in the pit of my stomach. How _had_ I managed to get out of my house without anyone knowing? Dad was a known heavy sleeper, but he had a set of ears on him like a hawk. He heard everything and always complained about birds chirping outside the house at five A.M. or a tree branch brushing against the window of his bedroom. The things _normal_ people usually slept through, he just didn't. Plus, my brother was constantly in and out of the house on a regular basis now. How had I managed to slip past his radar?

Thinking more about it now, I really needed to give myself more credit for my escape than I had been. I had officially done the impossible. I, Brynn Lahote, had snuck out of my house at three o'clock in the morning _without_ getting caught. I mean, I had frozen half to death while doing so and had snagged my hand on the sharp tree branch outside my bedroom window, but I had done it nonetheless.

_Battle wounds_, I reminded myself.

I was just beginning to relax and enjoy the solitude that came with the territory of First Beach. The thought of getting caught had nearly left my mind until a very loud and sharp voice broke through the peaceful silence.

"Brynn Lahote, get your sorry ass over here before I kick it straight to Canada."

I squeezed my eyelids shut in frustration. I was _so_ done for.

With a soft sigh, I got to my feet quickly, knowing that stalling would only make things worse. I brushed the damp grains of sand off the seat of my faded jeans and trudged through the deep sand in the direction the voice had come from. I kept my eyes on the squishy sand beneath my feet, trying to avoid the furiousness across his face that I could feel radiating from several feet away. I refused to look at his face, knowing that the anger in his eyes would easily ruin my calm façade. I supposed I was somewhat of a hypocrite; I was wimp. Getting in trouble was not something I enjoyed doing and it definitely hadn't been my intention when sneaking out of my house today.

My feet stopped on their own accord when my eyes found a pair of bare, russet-coloured feet in front of me. Before I could say a word, a rough, burning-hot hand gently tilted my chin up so I wasn't looking at the ground. I bit my lip as I met his eyes straight on, trying not to relay the fear I felt through my facial expression.

My cousin, Ethan Call, was definitely _not_ a happy camper at this early morning hour. His face revealed his extreme exhaustion through the dark circles that stood out against his tanned skin, nestled under his brown eyes. His black hair was unruly and windblown, like he had run the entire way here; I wouldn't be surprised if that was the case. Emotions battled for placement on his face, starting at anger and ending at concern as his eyes travelled across my face, searching for any visible injuries.

"Are you hurt?" he asked in his soft voice.

I slowly hid my bloody palm behind my back, desperately trying to keep my face neutral. I knew that he if even saw a hint of the cut; he would overreact and have the entire tribe at the beach in a matter of minutes. I was hoping that since the blood was nearly dry, that he wouldn't be able to smell it with his stronger, supernatural sense of smell. I carefully edged my sleeve over my hand, as if it would create a barrier between it and everything else.

"No," I said quickly with a quieter voice than normal.

Ethan's eyes searched my face again, even more thorough than the first time. After a moment, he dropped his hand from my chin, letting it fall back slowly to his side.

I self-consciously reached up and rubbed my chin with my good hand, feeling embarrassed all of the sudden. My cheeks continued to burn as my eyes fell back to the sand underneath our feet.

"Do you know how much trouble you're in?" Ethan said after a moment, catching my attention once more.

I winced, but still didn't look up. "Is it bad?" I knew it was; there was an obvious answer to my ridiculous question but for some reason, I still felt the need to ask.

"Your mom was literally about five minutes away from calling the cops until we caught your scent over this way," he informed me. "Almost the whole pack was out here looking for you."

_Great_, I thought bitterly. Apparently I hadn't gone as unnoticed as I had thought. Well, it had been nice while it lasted.

"What were you thinking, Brynnie?" Ethan asked sternly. "Do you realize what could have happened? You could have been hurt."

_Here comes the lecture_.

Ethan was only a year older than me—the same age as my older brother. But, because we were cousins and because he was my brother's best friend, he was extremely overprotective. His protective nature was something I was sure he had inherited from his parents, but it had kicked up a massive notch after he had phased. He was my favourite cousin and I loved him to death, but some personal space would be okay every once in a while too. He was more like a mother hen and less like a ferocious werewolf.

"Nothing happened!" I cried out without meaning to. _Roll with the punches, Brynn_. "Why couldn't you have just gone home and told them I was okay? Now everything is blown _way_ out of proportion! I was perfectly fine out here on my own, _obviously_."

"You're lucky," Ethan shouted back. "Something definitely _could_ have happened! Don't you realize that? You could have been killed, Brynn. Don't you _ever_ think?"

"Of course I _think_," I exclaimed. "That's all I ever do, Ethan. Maybe I'm tired of thinking about consequences all the time! I'm a teenager for God's sake! Aren't I supposed to act all rebellious and crap?"

He was about to yell right back at me once more, when the wind whirled again, sending sand and scattered raindrops everywhere. Our argument dissipated quickly. I couldn't feel my fingers or the end of my nose.

Ethan's warm, steady arm settled over the top of my shoulders, pulling me close to his side. "Come on," he murmured softly. "Let's get you home."

He led me towards the edge of the forest at the back of the beach, where I knew he had just appeared from moments ago. My feet skidded to a halt at the edge of the trees and I pushed at his bare chest. I was _not_ going in there. He had lost all sense if he thought I was.

"Brynn," he said, sighing through his nose in frustration. "This is the quickest way back to your house."

I planted my feet in the sand stubbornly. "Then you go that way and I'll meet you home."

There was no way he was going to get me to walk through there, no matter how much time it cut off from the walk back to my house. Not even if pigs sprouted wings and flew all over La Push. I was not walking through the forest. I refused to. Just the thought of it sent shivers down my spine.

"I'll be right beside you," Ethan soothed at my ear. His hands pushed firmly on my lower back, forcing me to move forward without my consent. "You know I'd never let anything happen to you."

I could feel the edge of a panic attack inching up my throat. "No, Ethan, _please_," I begged, nearly on the verge of tears.

The hands on my back disappeared and settled on the top of my shoulders instead. Ethan stood in front of me now, his eyes uncharacteristically serious as he watched me with concern.

"Okay, okay," he murmured, squeezing my shoulders. "Just calm down."

I took a deep, shuddering breath and began trying to slow my breathing back down to its normal pattern. I hadn't realized it had become unsteady; I was near the edge of hyperventilation. The lump in my throat slowly began to dissipate as my breathing become regular again. I hastily brushed a tear off of my cheek in embarrassment, my fingers shaking as I did so.

God, I was a mess. I couldn't be a mess—not here, in front of my poor cousin. It was one of the only rules I had for myself; I didn't cry in front of anyone. It was hard, but I wasn't going to show any weakness. I couldn't be weak when I was one of few girls in a family full of shapeshifters. It just wasn't an option.

Ethan waited patiently and silently until I had gotten myself back under control. Slowly, he let go over my shoulders and wound his arm around my waist. He started walking towards the stone path that I knew led to the parking lot on the edge of the beach, dragging me along with him.

I kept silent. I was embarrassed that I had allowed myself to get so worked up in front of him like that. I knew he wouldn't be able to keep my minor freak-out to himself. The next time he phased, it would be put on display in his mind for the rest of the pack members to see; like a big movie screen inside your own mind. There were never any secrets.

"We'll get you over that someday," Ethan said almost to himself.

My mind travelled to what he was talking about.

When I had been four years old, my father had still been an active member of the pack. Most of his generation still was, either because their kids were still really young or they didn't have any yet. I hadn't been aware of what the pack was back then, though. What set of parents in their right minds would trust a four year old with that kind of secret?

My parents had wanted to keep me as sheltered as possible for as long as they could. They had wanted my siblings and me to have as normal childhood as possible before we needed to be educated on the horrors that make up the supernatural world that my family was bound to.

There had been one specific day where a newborn vampire had been unleashed into La Push. It had slipped past the boundaries that separate La Push from Forks and had travelled right up onto First Beach, very close to where I had been sitting earlier. Every single member of the pack had been called out to chase that very vampire, including my father.

Even at four, I had been a known worrier. I had been a timid kid, terrified of a lot of things. But one thing that I hadn't seemed to understand was where my father could possibly be going at one o'clock in the morning. So, I had done what any naïve toddler would have done.

I followed him.

At one o'clock in the morning, I rightly should have been in my bed. Mom was busy with my other two siblings at the time. My brother had been terribly sick that day and my younger sister had only been a year old, completely dependent on her for everything. Dad leaving the house had awoken me and with my mother so preoccupied, she had never even noticed that I had slipped out of the house seconds later, wanting to know where my father was going.

I had never been in the woods before. I supposed that was with good reason; the woods were no place for a four year old. And that was obvious enough when I had gotten lost after only a few moments alone. I had fallen over some sort of broken tree trunk and had cut my leg pretty badly. The scent of my blood had sent the newborn vampire into a complete frenzy and it hadn't taken him long to join me at my location.

The vampire had touched my arm. It had only been for just a mere second, but I could still remember it like it had happened yesterday. His sparkling, stark white paper-skin, his blood-red eyes; everything about him had been so utterly terrifying. I hadn't obviously known what he truly was, but instead of being enticed by the unknown, my four-year-old mind seemed to understand that this _creature_ was dangerous.

The stupid vampire had nearly killed me; nearly drained my tiny, little body of blood. The pack had shown up without a moment to spare. The wolves had scared the wits out of me, but not nearly as much as that horrifying, undead-being had. I had never seen my father angrier than he had been that very day. The pack had saved my life.

The incident had pretty much ruined a lot of my childhood. I hadn't been able to sleep without succumbing to intense nightmares that replayed that very day for me over and over again. They had gone on for months and sometimes, when I was too stressed out, I still had them. My poor mother still hadn't forgiven herself for letting me out of her sight. She always claimed that I was the good child; the one she never had to worry about getting into any sort of trouble.

I didn't feel like a good child, though. I had caused my parents so much grief over such stupid, childish curiousity. I should have been smarter and never followed Dad into the woods and because I did, I had seen my four years of life flash before my eyes. I had forced my family to introduce my brother and I into a world that we hardly understood, but knew we was destined to be a part of. I had ruined my brother's childhood.

And because of that day, ten years later, I still refused to set any foot inside the woods.

I supposed that maybe that was why everyone seemed to be overreacting about me sneaking out today. My poor mother was probably at her wits end with worry. I hadn't meant to cause any trouble. When I had been unable to sleep last night, the first solution that came to mind was to get out of the house and go to the beach. I guess old habits never die young.

"Stop it," Ethan murmured.

I jumped at the sound of his voice. "Stop what?" I asked with confusion.

"Stop overthinking everything and blaming yourself," Ethan ordered simply.

There wasn't a way to deny that I hadn't a clue what he was talking about. Ethan was very good at reading people. The conflict had to be as clear as day on my face for him. He knew without a doubt that I was thinking about that day.

He pulled me closer to his side, sensing my distress. "God, it's cold. Couldn't you have run away on a warmer day?"

I frowned. "I didn't run away, Ethan. I just couldn't sleep."

"So you couldn't have stayed up all night and watched pointless TV like a normal person?"

"Apparently not," I retorted icily.

We walked for fifteen minutes before we finally reached my home. I'm sure Ethan could have done it in five, but I was walking extra slow on purpose. I didn't want to face the music. But sure enough, when my house came into view, I was simply out of time and out of luck.

I stopped suddenly at the edge of the concrete driveway, catching Ethan by surprise judging by the way he ran into my back, nearly knocking me to the ground. There weren't as many cars parked out front as I expected, but every single light was on inside the house. I took a deep sigh. The two-storey home with light brown brick had never looked more daunting than it had at this very moment.

I was thirty seconds away from going into hiding when I noticed a tall figure hopped over the white porch railing, hurrying over to us.

My older brother certainly resembled my father at this moment. His whole body radiated with anger and he looked like was barely holding it together. I grimaced at the sight of how black his eyes had gotten, knowing they were only that dark when he was absolutely furious. He reached us in a few long strides and his brows squished together as he looked me over thoroughly.

I suddenly wondered how awful I looked. As I saw my brother's face darken, I could feel my resolve begin to crumble.

He stopped in front of me and his scorching palms cupped my cheeks as he studied every single inch of my face. My bottom lip trembled as I tried to avoid his gaze.

"Do you know how fucking worried I was?" he cried. "Are you right stupid?"

My eyes went blurry as tears formed in them. "I'm sorry."

"Damn right you are. I can't even believe that you would do something like this, Brynn. What in God's name were you thinking?"

"Calm down, Tate," Ethan urged fiercely. He stepped towards us, laying a hand on my brother's trembling shoulder.

I leaned away from him, realizing that he was the one shaking. Shaking was an understatement; the boy was a vibrating blur. I held my breath, knowing that if he phased, I would surely be dead or worse.

My brother, Ethan, and several other boys around their age had all recently phased in the past few months. Ethan had been the first of their group and my brother was the most recent. He had phased three weeks ago and was obviously still adjusting to his heightened anger issues. This situation clearly wasn't making matters much better for anyone.

Tate took a shuddering, deep breath, dropping his hands from my face. He took a measured step back. Moments later, the shaking was gone. "Look at me," he ordered carefully.

My eyes went to his after a moment of slight hesitation.

"Did you get hurt?" he asked sternly. "Did anyone hurt you at all?"

He was talking to me like I was some sort of child and I resented it. But save him getting worked up all over again, I just shook my head quickly. I had to pick my battles.

I figured he would probably yell some more, telling me how stupid I was and how I could have died. But he surprised me by taking a deep sigh and pulling me towards his chest. He held me tightly and rested his chin on the top of my head. After a moment, I wrapped my arms around him in return, pressing my face against his chest to protect it from the bitter wind.

His warm hands gently rubbed up and down my back, generating heat throughout my body. Slowly, his familiar scent and the warmth from his hands relieved the tenseness from my shoulders. He held me carefully yet firmly, like I might break at any given moment.

"I love you," he whispered. "Please don't scare me like that again."

My brother may have had a terrible temper, but he was getting better at controlling it. With us only being a year apart, we had always been very close with one another. I had always found him to be one of the few people who were truly able to comfort me. He understood me. But he was also a protective nut when it came to things like this.

The front door fumbled open loudly and we all froze.

"Bring her inside, Tate," a deep voice ordered. It sounded like Dad and the undercurrent of anger in his voice was pretty obvious.

Without another word, the door slammed shut again, swinging back and forth on its hinges. Tate's arms dropped from around me like he had been shocked. He and Ethan started towards the house without another word. I didn't follow them.

Tate spun around once they reached the porch, realizing I wasn't right behind them.

I leaned down and plucked a piece of damp grass, holding it in my fingers tightly.

"What are you doing, Brynnie?" Ethan asked, staring at me like I had grown two heads.

I straightened up, blushing, and wiped my hand on my jeans. "Just saying goodbye to the grass," I explained, like it was the most normal thing in the world to do. "After I talk to Mom and Dad, I'll probably never get to see it again.

With a deep sigh, I trudged towards the house.

I was in so much trouble.

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**So a little look through Brynn's eyes. Please review and let me know what you think! Thanks for reading :) New chapters will be posted weekly (to the best of my ability - give me a break, I'm a freshman in college ;) ) so keep an eye out!**


	2. Freedom No More

**I just want to apologize for the late update. I've been thinking about this story all week long and how angry you all must be about me not updating! I just haven't had a chance until now. My teachers apparently all decided to assign about fifty projects this week, so I've been suffocated by them all week long. I do promise that I will always try 100% to update every week. If I don't, please don't hate me :(:( **

**Anyways, new chapter yay! Glad to see some new reviewers as well as some carry-ons from Acceptance is Key. Some MORE reviews would be even better ;)**

**Enjoy this chapter! Thanks for your support xo**

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I gingerly kicked off my muddy shoes on the mat at the front door, just like I would any other day. There was no sense making my mother angrier by tracking mud through the house and it gave me a few extra seconds to compose myself before I had to face my doom. I was dreading going into the kitchen, where I knew everyone must be waiting for me.

Everyone except for Tate and Ethan, that is. The two of them stood tensely at the edge of the kitchen door, impatiently waiting for me to join them. The look on their faces told me that they'd rather be anywhere else than here. I didn't blame them.

I unzipped my soaking wet coat and hung it on the overflowing hook by the front door, before I started towards them. My sock covered feet scuffed along the carpet as I passed by the living room, staring at the couch longingly. More than anything, I would have loved to just curl up into a ball and fall asleep on it. Though, I didn't think my parents would agree to that idea.

"After you, troublemaker," Tate said, nudging me into the kitchen ahead of them.

Much to my extreme dismay, my parents were not alone inside our roomy kitchen. While the two of them stood against the granite countertop by the sink, the kitchen table was crowded with a large amount of people I could have done without seeing. Everyone seemed to adorn the same scornful, concerned look.

My father's best friend—Jared Cameron—sat at the head of the kitchen table. He looked about as serious as I had ever seen him. Out of everyone, Uncle Jared was probably the worst when it came to overreacting. I wasn't surprised to see him here. I often believed that Dad and Uncle Jared were separated at birth; the two of them were not only extremely close, but also extremely similar in nature.

I _was_ surprised, however, to see Cody Cameron, Uncle Jared's eldest son and the current Alpha of the pack, along with Trey Uley, Sam and Emily's oldest son, sitting along with them. I didn't believe that this situation involved either one of them and had to bite my tongue to keep from saying so.

Everyone turned anxiously towards the kitchen door at the sound of my footsteps. I felt my cheeks burn in embarrassment.

My mother's arms were around me the moment my feet touched the cold hardwood floor in the kitchen. She sobbed loudly in my ear, crushing me against her in the tightest hug I'd ever experienced. Her arms were relentless, like iron, and I could hardly breathe, let alone move with them around me. I blinked as I felt tears of my own begin to trail down my cheeks. Although I had sworn not to cry, seeing and hearing my mother so upset made me feel like a rotten, terrible person.

The room was silent apart from the sound of her blubbering and after a very long moment, she pulled back to hold me at arm's length. She gently brushed some hair from my eyes, keeping me close to her as she did so. Her one arm was still around my soggy back, as if she was afraid to let me go.

"Oh, baby," she breathed, her eyes wide and red-rimmed. "Do you know how worried I was—how worried we _all_ were? What were you thinking; going out on your own in the _middle_ of the night?"

I bit my lip as I felt the guilt start to build up in my chest. "I'm really sorry."

Dad, who had been silently leaning against the fridge until now, stepped forward. I held my breath as he approached, waiting for some sort of verbal lashing from him. I had heard all these stories from when he had been a teenager and how volatile he had been then. Although he still yelled when he was truly overcome by anger, he was usually pretty good at staying calm. I was worried that perhaps this situation would cause his true werewolf anger to resurface while I was standing right here in front of him.

I was wrong, thank goodness. He gently untangled me from Mom's arms and pulled me into his own unyielding embrace. He held me just as tightly as Mom had, pressing his face into the top of my head. I relaxed after a few moments, realizing the big blowout I had expected wasn't going to happen.

"Are you hurt, honey?" he asked softly. His voice was thick with emotion.

I shook my head negatively. They didn't need to know about my hand. The sooner I got out of this awkward situation and up to my bed, the better.

Cody's chair squealed back on the floor as he got up suddenly. He reached his hands out towards me, gently but firmly removing my hidden hand from behind my back. I fought to get my wrist from his grasp, but it was useless; he was ten times stronger than I was. My teeth smashed together angrily as he pushed back my sweater sleeve to reveal the ugly, gruesome cut that spread across my palm.

"Busted," Trey said lowly, raising his eyebrows in my direction.

I yanked my hand out of Cody's tight grip, glaring at him. I wanted to it him, but fought back the urge. Barely. "No one asked you to be here, Trey," I growled. "So keep your opinions to yourself."

Trey chuckled. "She's a feisty one in the morning, huh?"

I started to walk towards the table, aiming to wipe Trey's smirk off his face, but was distracted when Mom's hands pried me out of Cody's reach, searching my palm for the damage he had pointed out. She gasped loudly when she saw it, gently smoothing the edge of her thumb over the large cut.

I winced at the pressure she put on it. Originally, I hadn't thought that it was a big deal, just some stupid tree branch scratch. But now that I was looking at it in some actual light, it was actually really gross. It was fairly deep and spread out into other smaller scratches, giving my palm a feather-like pattern of dried blood. Blood slowly oozed from the center of cut as it reopened from being examined.

The rusty smell of the blood made me feel dizzy, but I tried not to let it distract me. Fainting in the middle of these worrywarts would _not_ be very helpful.

Dad leaned over Mom's shoulder to have a look himself. "God that's deep. What did you cut it on?"

I hesitated, biting my lip and looked at the floor.

"Brynn," Dad demanded, his voice a little sharper than it had been previously. He was beginning to lose his patience.

Cody returned to his seat, but his eyes were still on my face, waiting for my response. What was he even doing here? Didn't he have something better to do than to rat me out for everything?

"A branch on the tree outside my bedroom window," I said quietly.

Mom rounded on me, her eyes widening. "A branch on the tree _outside_ your bedroom window? Do you mean to tell me that you not only _snuck out_ of the house in the middle of the night, but you did so by climbing out your _bedroom_ window? As in your bedroom window that is on the _second_ floor of this house?"

I gave a hesitant nod. Of course that was what I meant. What other bedroom window did she think I had?

"Brynn Amelia!" Mom sighed angrily.

I winced at the use of my middle name.

Dad didn't look very impressed with me. He glanced down at the cut again. "You might need stitches."

My eyes widened at his admission. "No I don't."

He frowned before he reached over to hold my injured hand in his own. "We'll take you to get it looked at."

I reefed my hand away. "I don't need to get it looked at and I don't need stitches," I exclaimed loudly. "You're totally overreacting."

Dad's anger began to rise as his calm façade faded. He crossed his arms tightly over his broad chest, staring at me through narrowed eyes. I knew I was testing fate by talking back to my parents like I was, but there was absolutely no way I was going to get stitches. I hated hospitals almost as much as I hated the woods. Not to mention, if Cody had just minded his own business, no one would have even noticed the cut.

Mom cleared her throat before the argument could go any further. "Would you both just relax, please?" she asked softly. "Tate, go upstairs and get the first aid kit out of the bathroom. Brynn, sit down at the table so I can have a look at your hand."

I opened my mouth to protest. "Mom—"

She sent me a warning look, shaking her head. "I'm not saying anything until I clean your hand," she told me. "We'll make a decision after that. Now, _sit_, Brynn."

Sighing in defeat, I carefully moved around Dad and sat down stiffly on the kitchen chair next to Uncle Jared. I made sure to sit as far away from Cody as possible, for his safety more than anything. I was still mad at him.

The two teenage boys at the table laughed at my choice of seating. I ignored them, curling my feet up underneath myself and gazed down at the deep brown wood of the kitchen table. The whole reason I had snuck out in the first place was so people would stop making a big fuss over my safety. If I ended up needing stitches, it would be blown right out of the water and my efforts would be for nothing.

Uncle Jared smoothed a gentle hand over my hair. He had remained surprisingly silent throughout everything. His fingers ran through my matted hair absently as he seemed to have some sort of silent conversation with my father by only moving their eyes. The rhythm of his hand calmed my nerves slightly.

Ethan left his spot from awkwardly standing in the kitchen door and sat down on the other side of Trey, resting his chin in his hand. He yawned loudly.

Another wave of guilt flashed through me. He must be exhausted. Glancing around the table quickly, I noticed that both Trey and Cody also looked absolutely exhausted. They looked like they hadn't slept at all.

"I'm sorry you guys had to go look for me," I blurted out without meaning to.

Trey groaned before reaching across the table to give my uninjured hand a squeeze. "Just shut up and promise to never do it again."

It was horribly silent for a long moment.

Tate returned a few moments later. He raised an eyebrow at the awkward atmosphere before he handed the stark white, rectangular box, which held all of our first aid things, off to Mom. He opened his mouth to say something and was immediately silenced by the look on Dad's face.

"Tate, take Ethan and Trey out to the living room, please," Dad said.

My eyes flashed up to my brother's face. _Don't leave me here to fend for myself_, I mouthed.

Tate hesitated at the edge of the kitchen door. Neither Trey nor Ethan moved from their seats.

"Now Tate," Dad ordered.

I watched unhappily as the three boys slowly trudged out of the kitchen, all of them adorning the same sour look on their faces. Tate sent me an apologetic glance before he carefully closed the sliding door behind them. A moment later, the sports highlights were playing loudly from the TV.

I knew it wasn't a good sign that they had sent the boys out to the living room. I wasn't sure what was going to happen next, but I had a bad feeling that it was going to include some sort of punishment. Or maybe some yelling; whatever suited my father's fancy by the time the conversation was over.

Mom pulled up a chair in front of me and opened up the first aid kit without a word. She scrounged through the contents carefully, trying to find whatever she needed to clean the blood off my hand—which was beginning to spread towards my fingers. She silently pulled out several pieces of gauze and a bottle of hydrogen peroxide. I cringed at the sight of it.

Dad sat down in Trey's abandoned chair, directly across from me, and folded his hands together on the top of the table.

I gulped past the lump that had suddenly formed in my throat. Here we go.

To my surprise, Cody was the one who spoke first. "Do you know how lucky you are?"

I sighed. Did he know how _sick_ I was of hearing those words? I focused my eyes on Mom as she began cleaning my hand.

"Brynn," Cody prompted.

I lifted my eyes to meet his. "Nothing happened," I argued.

Uncle Jared and Dad exchanged a quick look that I was sure I wasn't supposed to see.

"Brynn, honey," Dad said. "This morning the pack was called out to chase a stray vampire."

I flinched at his words and then hissed loudly—Mom had dabbed some peroxide onto my cut without my direct knowledge. It burned and bubbled uncomfortably against my skin.

"Did they catch it?" I whispered. My voice crackled with every word.

"They did," Uncle Jared answered softly. He was watching me carefully.

Cody cleared his throat and I reluctantly looked back in his direction. "It was only about three minutes before your parents realized you weren't asleep in your bedroom. What if they hadn't noticed? What if we hadn't caught the vampire and it had found you at the beach?"

Mom took an unsteady breath as she wiped away some access blood with a piece of Kleenex, reacting to Cody's harsh words.

I bit down on the inside of my cheek to keep myself from giving Cody any sort of reaction in response to his words.

"I don't think we need to discuss if you understand what could have happened," Dad stated gently.

I shook my head quickly.

"What do you have to say for yourself?" Dad asked.

I took a deep breath, knowing that I did owe some sort of a valid explanation. "I just couldn't get to sleep—I needed some air. I didn't mean to cause any trouble, really. I'm _sorry_, Daddy."

Dad looked upset with me, but he nodded slowly after a moment. I knew he was back at that day, where he had ripped a vampire apart to save his four-year-old daughter. I knew he was connecting what happened with what _might_ have happened today if that vampire had caught my scent and if the pack hadn't been fast enough.

The more I thought about, the more I realized how stupid I had been to go out on my own. It hadn't even crossed my mind that there might be a vampire in La Push. It was no wonder that Tate hadn't heard me sneak out; he had already been out there, hunting that _vampire_. Oh yes, I was definitely stupid.

Cody sighed as he stood up. "I've got to head back out there and make sure everything's under control." He reached over to ruffle my hair lightly as he passed my seat. "Stay out of trouble."

I stuck my tongue out at him.

"Thanks again, Cody," Dad said.

Uncle Jared smiled at his son. "Your mother would like you home for breakfast."

Cody nodded quickly. He leaned down to plant a quick kiss on the top of my head. I didn't look at him, still angry with him. He sighed at my lack of response, before he left the room. I heard him round up Ethan and Trey before the three of them clambered out of the house through the front door.

The moment the door shut behind them, Dad turned to look at me again. "You aren't grounded, but there are rules."

I frowned deeply. "Haven't there always been rules?"

"New rules," Uncle Jared clarified.

I sighed.

"No going anywhere alone," Dad said. "You walk to and from school with Tate. If Tate has patrol after school, one of the other pack members will walk you home."

I was back to being babysat all over again.

"And no friends' houses."

I stared at him in disbelief. "You have to be kidding? What about Emma and Callum?"

Emma Cameron was literally my other half. We had been best friends from the moment we were born. We did absolutely everything together, including having joint birthday parties because our birthdays were only three days apart. I didn't know what I would do without Emma.

My parents were going to have a hard time keeping us away from each other if that was what they chose as punishment. Not only was she the daughter of Jared and Kim, but also they only lived two houses away.

I didn't think my parents would try to keep Emma and I apart—the Camerons were more like family than friends. No, I was slightly more concerned about not being able to see Callum; he was one person that they could keep me away from with some effort that would actually have a big effect on me.

Callum Uley was the middle child of Sam and Emily. He was also my best friend in the entire world. He was my rock and we had been inseparable for as long as I could remember. Callum knew everything there was to know about me.

_Not everything_, my subconscious kindly reminded me.

I supposed it was true. There _was_ one thing that I hadn't ever told Callum, or anyone for that matter. And that secret happened to be how much I absolutely loved him with all my heart.

I couldn't help it. He had been such a huge part of my life for so long, I couldn't ever imagine being without him. It had started when we had been just six years old. Someone in our class at school dared him to kiss me, so he did. Back then, it had just been a stupid crush; something I was totally embarrassed over but sure I would outgrow soon enough. But as the years went on and the closer we got, it just seemed to intensify.

As much as I wished he knew about my feelings, there was no way I could ever tell him. I didn't want to risk ruining what we had already. I didn't want to lose our friendship if he didn't feel the same way about me. So, I kept my feelings to myself, no matter how close they were to bursting out at any given time.

I didn't know what I would do if my parents forbid me from seeing my friends outside of school. I needed them. They kept me sane through all _this_. I suddenly wished they were here now, backing me up in this highly awkward situation. Their input probably would have made my parents go easier on me.

Mom cleared her throat. She sent Dad a meaningful look. "Your friends are more than welcome at our house," she assured me. "You know we wouldn't cut you off from your friends, we're just concerned about knowing where you are at all times. So we're just limiting to where you can hang out with them."

I breathed a quick sigh of relief. At least Mom was thinking rationally through all this.

She went back to tending to my injured hand. Grabbing a piece of gauze, she carefully placed it onto my freshly cleaned palm. She taped it down with several pieces of medical tape before she crisscrossed another piece over top of it. She repeated the process more than once until my hand was heavily cushioned.

"Leave it alone for a few days and we'll see how it goes," Mom told me sternly. "I don't think it's deep enough for stitches. The smallest cuts always bleed the most."

_Ha, take that Dad._

Mom grabbed the garbage from the materials she had used and moved towards the kitchen sink.

I assumed that the lecture must be over for now. I stood up as well. "Can I please go to my room?"

Mom nodded. "Sure, sweetheart. I'll check on you in a little while, okay?"

I nodded in return before I left the kitchen quickly. I knew the moment I was out of earshot they would begin talking about me. I walked sluggishly by the living room, trying to remain quiet.

"Brynn?" Tate called as he watched me walk by.

I waved my hand towards him, signaling that I would fill him in later on everything. Right now, I needed sleep. I had to hold the railing on the staircase to the second floor tightly; scared I would fall over from exhaustion.

My younger sister's bedroom door was still shut tightly when I walked by. I shook my head, wondering how she had managed to sleep through everything that had happened this morning. The girl could sleep through a hurricane if there ever was one.

I pushed open my bedroom door and stepped inside my room. I unzipped my soggy sweatshirt as I walked towards my bed, tossing it onto my desk chair as I passed. With a quick glance at my alarm clock, I realized that it was only seven thirty in the morning. No wonder Stella was still sleeping.

I peeled back my turquoise comforter and slid underneath, shivering as I pulled the blankets up to the edge of my chin. I just wanted to go to sleep and forget this had all ever happened. If I was lucky, maybe it was just a dream.

And as much as I doubted that, I didn't have a lot of time to worry about it.

I was asleep before my head had fully touched my pillow.

* * *

**So that's just a little look into how Brynn gets along with the people in her family. You'll meet Emma and Callum next chapter. Again, thanks for reading and don't forget to review :)**


	3. Welcome to Hell

**I AM SO SORRY. School has literally been kicking my ass. I honestly haven't had time to update, but it's been on my mind constantly. I hope you guys can forgive me :( I am still hoping to try and update at least once a week, but if I don't, please know that I will never ditch this story. There just aren't enough hours in the day to do everything! So, I stayed up late last night finishing this chapter so I could post it this morning!**

**Since I'm so late updating, I hope that the fact that this chapter is a long one helps to make up for it ;)**

**So, here's chapter 3...it's a good one!**

**Again, please don't forget to review! Thanks :)**

* * *

I slammed the metal door to my locker shut loudly, spinning the lock. Adjusting my books in my arms, I was just about to head down the hallway to my first period class when I heard someone call out my name.

I spun around to see Emma striding towards me. Her face was a mixture of purpose and concern. She had straightened her long black hair and it hung perfectly down her back and framed her heart-shaped face. She wore a pink sundress, despite the chilly weather, and her white flip-flops clacked noisily on the floor as she hurried towards me. She walked with her head held high; exuding the confidence that I one day dreamed to attain.

The moment she reached me, her arms came around me in a fluid motion, evidently squashing me against her. She held me tightly for a long moment, before she pulled back. Then, without a word, she punched my shoulder. Hard.

I sent her an incredulous look. "Um, _ow_," I grumbled, rubbing my shoulder with my fingers to try and alleviate the pain that was throbbing there. "What was that for?"

Emma's eyes scanned the hallway quickly, making sure there wasn't anyone around to eavesdrop on our conversation, before she leaned close to my face. "For going out alone and nearly getting killed by a vampire _again_, that's what."

Oh, _that_.

I rolled my eyes at her dramatic tendencies. Although Emma was my best friend, she was also an absolute drama queen. Her mother always joked that she had ended up with Claire and Quil's real daughter and not her own, as Claire could be quite the firecracker herself when she wanted to be. Out of the two of us, Emma was the most self-assured, the most confident about herself. She was the wild one; I was the one that made sure her crazy ideas didn't end up getting us arrested.

"The vampire wasn't anywhere near me," I told her as we started walking down the hallway towards our class.

Emma shrugged the shoulder strap of her brown purse higher up on her shoulder. "That isn't what Cody told me."

I gritted my teeth. I should have known. Of course Cody wouldn't have been able to keep his mouth shut. I supposed that it would have been hard for him to keep it to himself. At eighteen years old, he had been a member of the pack for a good two years now. He had been Alpha for nearly a full year.

"Well tell Cody that he needs to get his facts straight before he starts blabbing to people."

It was hard to keep the sourness out of my voice. I was still unhappy with him for ratting me out.

"Why didn't you call me?" Emma asked in a wounded tone. "I would have come with you."

I raised my eyebrows at her. "Yeah, that would have been a great idea, Em," I muttered sarcastically. "Both of us go out and get caught. Your dad would have murdered you."

"Oh and Uncle Paul _didn't_ throw a fit when you got home?" she countered.

I sighed. Everyone knew how overprotective my parents were. "Dad was actually a lot calmer than I thought he was going to be. Tate on the other hand…_not_ so much."

Emma nodded in understanding. If anyone, she knew about overprotective brothers about as much as I did. Cody could be pretty overbearing himself; when he wasn't caught up with his _imprint_, that is.

_Imprinting_ was the one thing in this whole mess that I didn't have a complete negative opinion on. I mean, how could I? You just had to have one look at my parents and see how happy and content they were with one another. They were _meant_ for each other; _made_ to be together. What girl in her right mind wouldn't wish for the same thing to happen to her one day?

And although I sometimes thought that fate forcing you to fall in love with your soul mate without warning was a little sketchy, I hoped every single day without fail that once Callum phased into a wolf that he would imprint on me.

Emma opened the large wood door to our history classroom and jammed me inside just as the last bell went off. I blushed as our teacher glared at us. I veered off towards the right side of the classroom where my assigned seat was. Emma, unfortunately, sat on the opposite side of the room, where I knew she would be shooting daggers at me with her eyes for the whole 75 minutes that we were stuck in here.

"Thank you for _finally_ joining us, Miss Lahote, Miss Cameron," our teacher said snidely. "If you could _please_ pull out your homework from the weekend and pass it forward. I'd like to get started on today's work."

Our history teacher, Mrs. Pullen, was easily the angriest, moodiest fifty-five year old woman I had ever met. She wore the same three dresses all week long, alternating them. She always had magenta lipstick smudged in her yellowing teeth. I had never even seen her smile.

I rummaged through my worn black backpack, searching for the homework that I knew I had completed Friday evening. My parents were big on good grades and I took school fairly seriously because of them. Eventually, I found the page crumpled at the bottom of my bag and quickly scrawled my name on the top of it before I handed it forward to the person in front of me.

Once Emma's and my assignments reached her, she turned to the class again. "If you can turn to the next chapter in your textbook and begin reading it, I'll grade your homework for the end of class. Once you finish the reading, begin the corresponding questions. Complete one to eight, along with your one page summary and translation for tomorrow."

I sighed, flipping open my thick, ancient textbook unhappily. My nose wrinkled at the musty smell that came from inside the book. History was by far my most advanced class this semester. We had homework and assignments every single night and unit tests every two weeks without fail. Even when I had finished an assignment ahead of time, I never felt like I was ahead of the game. Not to mention, Mrs. Pullen was a _tough_ marker.

The worst thing about this class was that Emma and I were completely on our own. Callum had first period math and our other friends were either in grades ahead of us or scattered in other various classes. I always preferred the classes I had with pack members, just feeling safer with them around. No one ever messed with Emma or me when they were around.

My brother was pretty high up on the social totem pole. He was even more popular now that he had phased. Girls ogled him everywhere he went. It was highly revolting and one hundred percent puke-worthy. But unlike him, I wasn't blessed with the social gene. I was mostly quiet, keeping to myself. I didn't really associate with anyone outside of the pack. My parents had made me take a lot of advanced classes, so I remained focused on my overloaded pile of homework every day in order to keep up and not fall behind with such a heavy workload. People assumed that for the most part, I was anti-social, but I was truly just really shy.

I played with the lid to my pen absently. This chapter in our textbook was at least thirty pages long. I had only finished about seventeen of them by the time the bell shrilled, signaling the end of class. I quickly stuffed my things inside my backpack and hurried to join Emma in the hallway. I grabbed my graded homework from Mrs. Pullen's desk on my way out.

I found Emma leaning against a nearby locker, scanning her page of homework with a sour look on her face.

"What did you get?" she asked moodily.

I hadn't even looked at my grade. I flipped over my sheet hastily. "Nineteen out of twenty," I said with a shrug. "What did you get?"

"Eleven," she hissed angrily.

I bit my lip, feeling sympathetic. Our history class, though taught in English, was based on the main language of La Push—Quileute. I wasn't fluent in the language, much like a lot of people, and my parents rarely spoke it at home. But my mother's father had forced my siblings and I to study up on it when we were younger. I could understand the gist of it, but I couldn't speak a word myself. The homework took twice as long to do because of this. For each assignment, I had to struggle through understanding what the book was saying and answer the questions—as well as translate it all into English—and then summarize what the chapter was about in a half page response. It was truly mentally exhausting.

But poor Emma didn't know the language worth a dime. Her parents didn't speak it either; therefore she was never educated on it. I mean; everyone in La Push _spoke_ English, so it wasn't as if understanding Quileute was a massive asset. However, our history class was mandatory in all four years of high school. We didn't have a separate language class just for Quileute. The elders felt it was important for us to learn more about our tribe's culture the older we got. Needless to say, Emma was struggling even more than I was.

"At least you passed," I said with a hesitant smile, hoping to be reassuring.

She sent me a pointed look before she stuffed the offending page into her purse, crumpling it up into a little ball at the very bottom.

"I guess that one's not going on the fridge," she muttered sarcastically.

Jared and Kim weren't as strict about grades as my parents were, but they didn't exactly take lightly to Emma's lack of motivation to do overly well in school. She _did_ try, but not to the extent that got her anything over a B. It wasn't that she wasn't smart; she was just too lazy to put the effort in. But, that's part of what made her Emma.

I linked my arm through hers. "C'mon, let's go to science."

She pulled me in the direction of her locker. "I need to grab something first."

I allowed her to drag me completely across the hallway. I ducked my head and apologized quietly to the people we cut off. Emma didn't really seem to notice, or care, that she had stopped most of the hallway traffic.

I was lucky enough to have Emma in almost all of my classes. But unfortunately, it didn't always work to my advantage. Emma always took her time to get to class and it usually made us late at least twice a week. Most of the time, our teachers would just turn a blind eye. A lot of them found Emma's attitude to be witty and charming. But once in a while, one teacher would decide to send up to get a late slip.

I leaned against the locker next to hers as she fiddled through the piles and piles of things she had inside, clearly set on finding whatever she was looking for. I took her science book out of her hand after a long moment, allowing her to search freely with both hands in hopes of speeding up the process. Emma's locker resembled her bedroom; it was like a tornado had rolled through it.

We were the total opposites of one another. Emma was untidy and wild. She always took risks without thinking of the consequences to follow. I relied on my organization and sanity to get me through the day. I was cautious—probably too cautious in actuality. I think that's why we got along so well together.

A shadow loomed over me and before I could react, I was trapped in a headlock. The person rubbed their fist into my hair gently, sending it spiraling into all directions. I screeched in surprise.

"What's the matter little cuz?"

I rolled my eyes. I should have known who it was. "Ethan, if you don't let me go in the next thirty seconds, you won't be able to have children."

The hands disappeared instantaneously. I received a quick kiss on the top of my head before I watched him hurry down the hallway without a word. I shook my head at his retreating figure and quickly tried to smooth down my wild hair with my hands.

"He's a nut case," Emma commented. She was buried in her locker's contents.

"So are you but we still love you," I teased.

"Watch it, Lahote," she warned.

I laughed loudly.

"If it isn't little Brynn Lahote," a female voice sneered from my left.

I spun around without thinking and came face to face with the one person I tried to avoid like the plague. My good mood was gone instantly.

Lila Clearwater was the splitting image of her estranged mother, only ten times worse. She was the most popular girl in the tenth grade—mostly due to the revealing clothing she wore. Her outfits were what my mother called "too trampy for her own good." Lila was a bitter and angry person. She felt the need to take out her bad mood on everyone else in hopes of making herself feel better.

She also made it her personal goal to make my life a living Hell.

I had never done anything to upset her. I had barely spoken to her, for goodness sake. Yet, she still absolutely hated my guts to no end. I wasn't sure why. Emma always claimed that it was because she was jealous of me, but that had to be the most ridiculous theory I had heard. There wasn't anything to be jealous of when it came to plain, old me. I didn't understand her foul attitude.

Leah Clearwater had moved her family to the outskirts of the tribe in order to gain some space from the people she had been forced to grow up with. They lived in a big mansion right smack dab in the middle of the transition line between La Push and Forks. The house was hidden away behind trees that blocked any public view to their home. According to Dad, she had always hated being part of the pack and didn't get along with the other members too well. But, since she was an important figure in the tribe, she wasn't able to fully pull her family out of La Push. So, instead, she just distanced herself and her family right out of our close-knit group. We only ever saw them during family gatherings—like Christmas or Thanksgiving—or during tribal bonfires.

This was something that didn't seem to bother Lila much. She knew about the pack, but she didn't associate with any of them. She regarded us with her nose up in the air, as if we all weren't up to her social standards. She had developed her own little group of followers that seemed to worship the ground she walked on. I never saw her without them.

Today, she wore a too-short denim shirt and a pink blouse with a low neckline. Her light brown hair had blonde highlights in it and she had twirled it expertly into ringlets that hung down her back. Her two friends, Jessica and Anna, were dressed similarly.

The three of them stood right in front of me with matching smirks on their faces.

"Um, hi?" I asked.

Lila's smirk grew. "So I heard from a little birdy that you ran away from home on Sunday."

"I didn't run away," I corrected. "I went to the beach. Besides, where did you hear that?"

She waved her hand through the air. "Not important," she dismissed. "So why'd you do it? Did you _finally_ realize how pathetic you are? We all knew it would happen eventually."

Emma's head suddenly snapped up. She straightened up from her crouched position, glaring at Lila.

I crossed my arms. "What do you want, Lila?"

She raised her eyebrows. "Oh, well I just wanted to tell you how _glad_ I was to hear that you weren't _hurt_. It would have been such a shame if something bad had _happened_."

My eyes widened. What was she thinking? Lila may have known about the rogue vampire, but Jessica and Ana were _not_ part of the supernatural world. She was being awfully open with her words and if she wasn't careful, she could accidentally reveal something she wasn't supposed to. Enemy or not, I wouldn't let her ruin what we had in respect to keeping our family secret safe.

Emma's hand appeared on my shoulder. "Don't you have somewhere better to be, Lila?" Can't you just leave Brynn alone already? She's never done anything to you."

Lila's eyes darkened. She stepped closer to me and her nose ring sparkled in my face. "I'm just watching my back like my _mother_ told me to," she hissed. "If I were you, I'd watch yours too."

Emma's face was beyond furious. "Is that a threat?" she exclaimed loudly, catching the attention of several people near us.

I sent her a pleading look. "Don't, Emma. She's not worth it."

She shook her head at me, disregarding my words completely. She stepped closer to Lila.

Lila shrugged. "Maybe it is," she said, answering Emma's question. "What are you going to _do_ about it?"

"Is there a problem here, ladies?"

I had never felt more relieved to see my brother in my entire life. It was a good thing he showed up too, because if Lila and Emma had decided to go at it, I wasn't sure I would be able to stop them.

Tate met my eyes quickly, his face speaking volumes. He turned to look at Lila, crossing his arms over his chest as he waited for an answer. Trey appeared in the hallway and veered towards our group, patting my brother on the back as he stood next to him. He didn't say a word, but there was a disapproving expression on his face.

"No, no problem," Lila falsely assured my brother. "I was just checking up on Brynn here. I heard she had _quite_ the weekend."

Tate's eyes narrowed dangerously. "I don't think that's any of your business. So why don't you move along before we're all late for class?"

It was a known fact to everyone that Tate and Lila didn't get along. They both had strong personalities that clashed the moment they were in the same room. My brother's dislike for her had sprouted far before she had developed her game of making my life miserable. His hatred just intensified when he had found out. Lila didn't have any real reason to hate my brother, but just because he was a member of the pack was a good enough excuse for her to do so.

"Don't you think you're being a little rude?" Lila said. "We were just having a conversation."

Trey raised his eyebrows. "I'll believe that shit the next time you're genuinely nice to a person."

Lila sniffed dramatically. "Well, I see not everyone had such manners as they should. Come, girls, let's go find somewhere that has people who are up to our _standards_."

I watched the three of them stride down the hallway with an intense feeling of relief. Truth be told, Lila scared the crap out of me. I let go of the breath I hadn't realized I had been holding. What a rotten way to start of my morning.

Tate spun around to look at me. "What did she say to you?" he asked, concern flooding onto his face.

"Nothing," I responded quickly. I handed Emma her textbook. "C'mon, we're going to be late for class."

"Brynn," Tate murmured, catching my wrist in a death grip.

Emma opened her mouth to say something and I shot her a quick look, silently telling her that if she said what I thought she was going to say, I would never speak to her again.

I took a deep breath before I forced a smile onto my face and looked up at my brother. "Everything is fine, Tate. You worry too much."

"Liar," Trey accused.

Tate sent me a warning look. "We aren't done talking about this."

I refrained from rolling my eyes and pulled my hand out of his grasp. He let me go without another word. I grabbed Emma's hand and tugged her past the two of them, waving over my shoulder as we hurried towards our science class.

Science class past by more quickly than I expected. I spent most of the class lost in my thoughts, ending up not putting as much work into my science lab as I should have. Before I knew it, class was over and it was lunchtime. I left Emma at her locker and went to my own, hoping to ditch my textbooks and grab the lunch that my mother had packed for me this morning.

I was fiddling through my things, mostly trying to waste time. I didn't feel overly hungry. If I had felt brave enough, I probably would have ditched lunch altogether and went to the library to do some homework. But, I knew my absence wouldn't go unnoticed. I shoved my science book in my backpack angrily.

I didn't hear the footsteps behind me and nearly jumped out of my skin when a warm hand touched the small of my back. I slowly spun around and found myself staring straight into the most beautiful pair of brown eyes I had ever seen. I felt a small smile form on my face almost immediately.

Callum Uley, in all his wonderful glory, stood in front of me. His hands were in the front pockets on his dark blue _Levi's_. His green sweatshirt made his eyes pop and his overgrown, dark brown hair was tousled, partially covering his broad forehead. He smiled in return, revealing two lines of perfectly white teeth.

I tried not to swoon too much and casually grabbed a hold of my locker door for support.

"Hey," he greeted.

"Hi, dweeb," I said back, slamming my locker door shut. "How was your morning?"

Instead of answering, he grabbed my hand and gave it a squeeze, holding it tightly for a moment before he let it go. We started walking towards the cafeteria, neither of us saying anything. I bit down on my lip, feeling uneasy due to his uncharacteristically silent demeanour.

"So, it's finally starting to warm up a little outside, huh?" I blurted out. "Emma is wearing a dress today. I mean, it's not _that_ warm yet, but it's close—" I paused for a second. "Hey, did you not get my text messages last night? I tried to call you, but my—"

"Cut the bullshit, Brynn."

I winced.

He paused in the middle of the hallway, staring at me with an angry expression on his face.

I sighed deeply. "You aren't going to lecture me, are you? Because, believe me, I've had my fair share of them since yesterday. I'm pretty sure I'm all caught up in the lecture department."

"I was considering it," he admitted.

I looked up at him. "Could you just _not_? I've heard about all I can hear on that matter."

Callum crossed his arms.

I placed my hand on his forearm. "As my best friend, I'm asking you to please _don't_."

He nudged me forward, holding the door to the cafeteria open. I snuck underneath his arm and into the crowded room, waiting for his response.

"Of course you would pull the best friend card," he muttered. "Fine, I won't lecture you."

I raised my eyebrows in surprise. That went easier than I thought. "Oh—well, thanks."

He carefully guided me around a group of boys who were roughhousing in the middle of the café. "That doesn't mean," he continued. "That's I'm not pretty upset about it."

I took in the firm set of his mouth, the dark circles under his eyes, and the tenseness in his shoulders. Just by looking at him, I could tell he wasn't himself. Of course he was upset—he didn't need to tell me that. But, was it all from me sneaking out? There had to be more to the cause of his rotten mood.

"I can see that," I replied curtly.

Emma waved from the farthest table in the back corner of the room. It was the table we always sat at for lunch and I started in her direction.

"Do you blame me?" he asked, keeping up easily with my quick pace.

"I just don't understand why everyone's so upset," I cried, turning to look at him. "Nothing happened to me. I was perfectly safe. And _before_ you go and say that 'I was lucky', I've already heard that about a million and one times in the last two days. So, can you please just let it _go_? Please."

Callum held my gaze for a moment. Whatever he seemed to see in my face, he didn't particularly like, but after a moment he finally sighed. "It's hard being best friends with such a huge pain in the ass, you know that?"

I rolled my eyes at his response. "How do you think I feel?"

We approached the table Emma was at and I pulled out a chair next to hers, throwing myself down onto it. Callum took the one next to mine.

I knew he would have said a lot more about my adventure if we hadn't been in the middle of the school cafeteria. He valued our friendship too much to ever go off on a total rampage about it, but I knew he wasn't exactly supportive of what I did. Thankfully, it seemed as if I was going to get off easy today. I was glad he as such a good friend.

"Where is everyone?" Callum asked Emma.

The pack, for as long as I could remember, always claimed the back two tables in the cafeteria. The older members had the biggest table. They seemed to create the most noise at lunchtime. We had the small table in the back corner where no one could bother us. Although it was difficult to say if everyone was present at the bigger table because there was just so many of them, our table was definitely lacking two of its usual members.

Although Callum, Emma and I weren't a part of the pack in the literal sense, we knew enough about it that we might as well have been. We probably could have sat at another table—much father away from the prying and nosy older boys—but I doubted that it would have gone over well. The older members—mostly my brother and Emma's—liked to keep an eye on us. So, back table it was.

Emma shrugged and casually took a sip of her diet soda.

I set my lunch bag on the top of the table before I turned to look at her. "Okay, say whatever it is you need to say before you spontaneously combust all over the table."

Callum snickered behind his already half-eaten ham sandwich.

"I got invited to a party," Emma cried excitedly, unable to hold it in any longer.

"A party?" a deep voice exclaimed before I could respond. "Count me in."

I watched as the two formally absent boys joined us at the table, scooting their chairs back loudly on the floor as they sat down. Both adorned trays with an enormous, disgusting amount of food on them.

Emma immediately perked up even more as the two boys sat down. Her body straightened in her chair and she leaned to her right, almost subconsciously. Her eyes followed every movement that the boy in the chair to her right made. Her body almost mirrored them.

I tried not to frown at her behaviour.

Max Clearwater was the same age as my brother and had phased for the first time around the same time as Ethan. I didn't trust him as far as I could throw him. He had always been the one guy out of all of Tate's friends that didn't want anything to do with Emma or me. But, the second he laid eyes on Emma after he had changed, it was like the two of them were trapped in their own little world.

Now, I was constantly forced to play third wheel. It wasn't that I hated Max or anything; for the most part, he was civil enough. But he was just too arrogant for my liking. I felt like his and Emma's relationship was moving much too quickly. I had told Emma this a while ago and I thought she was going to rip my head off, so I never brought it up again. I just had to force myself to be happy for her.

Max treated her like she was royalty, so at least I knew she was going to be taken care of all the time. But that didn't mean that I had to like him. Not to mention, he was Lila's cousin, though he couldn't really be at fault for that.

A thought dawned on me. "Max," I said loudly, turning to look at him. "Did you happen to tell Lila about Sunday?"

Max didn't meet my eyes. "I may have mentioned it when I saw her later that day."

I sighed heavily, trying to keep my anger in check. "Why would you do that?"

"It wasn't like we were talking about you or anything," he defended himself, sounding like he was having trouble keeping his own emotions under control. "It just kind of came up. Besides, I didn't realize it was a huge secret or anything."

My fingers clenched into a fist under the table. "It wasn't a secret," I retorted in a careful tone. "But it would have made my life a lot easier if she had been kept out of the loop."

Emma sent me a calculating look. "He didn't do it on purpose, Brynnie. Just chill out."

I bit the inside of my cheek to keep myself from saying anything I would regret. I couldn't trust Emma to say anything sensible around Max. Her judgment was a little clouded by her insane obsession over his presence. It was known that she also wasn't overly happy with the fact that her boyfriend and I weren't exactly the best of friends.

I wished that she would cut me some slack; I _did_ try. Max just made it so difficult with his know-it-all attitude. Sometimes I thought lunch would be a lot better if Max sat with the older boys like he used to before he had imprinted on Emma.

"Did something happen with Lila this morning, Brynn?" Callum asked suddenly.

"No," I muttered quickly.

I could tell by the look on his face that he didn't believe a word I said. I was hoping he wouldn't call me out on it in front of everyone.

"So what were you saying about a party?"

My eyes travelled across the table to the boy sitting there.

Lucas Aterea was the one person in the world that I couldn't seem to get a full read on. I had known him my entire life and yet I felt like I hardly knew anything about him. One moment he could be a huge jerk, swearing like a sailor or pulling practical jokes, and the next, he could be the best listener; the only person you felt like you could talk to.

He drove me crazy.

I studied him further. He had sprouted up a good few inches in the last couple of weeks. He seemed ganglier than normal—beanpole-ish. His fuse had been a lot shorter the last few weeks too.

He was showing signs of phasing.

I looked at Callum, feeling tense all of a sudden. He too looked slightly taller. He wasn't his usual happy-g0-lucky person. I thought back to the other day when he had accidentally snapped his pencil in half while we had been doing homework together.

They had both just turned fifteen.

My fingernails bit into my palms at my realization. My biggest fear in the entire world was coming true and I had been too caught up in everything else to even notice. My breath felt shallow, like the oxygen wasn't reaching my lungs completely.

I was about two weeks away—give or take a few vampire appearances—from losing my best friend to the werewolf world. I absolutely _hated_ it more than anything else in the entire world.

"—so she asked me if I wanted to go," Emma was saying. "Of course I said yes. I've never been to a high school party before, as lame as that is. I can't wait."

I stared at her like she had spoken a foreign language. "Like Jared and Kim would ever let you go."

"You're such a downer, Brynn," she complained. "I can totally convince them; especially if the pack is going. It's just a beach bonfire. We've been to a million of those before."

So _now_ it was just a beach bonfire. A minute ago, she had been totally pumped about it and not even thirty seconds later; she was already downplaying the whole thing, like she was prepping herself for convincing her parents to let her attend.

Of course she was right; beach bonfires _were_ no big deal. We had them all the time. But this was not going to be some regular tribe bonfire that the elders hosted and our parents supervised. There would be booze and drugs and hormonal, out of control teenagers.

I didn't want to sound like a goody-goody, but that's what I felt like. We were tenth graders, sans Max. We had no idea what to expect at a party. What if someone tried to have sex with Emma? Max would end up phasing in the middle of the beach. Then what would we tell a bunch of crazed, drunk, _normal_ teenagers? We certainly couldn't tell them the truth.

More scenarios ran through my mind, each one worse than the one before. I could not see this turning out good.

"I'm totally down," Lucas said happily. "I could use a good party."

Callum nudged him. "Dude, you've never been to a party."

I nodded in agreement—_my_ point exactly.

Lucas didn't seem too affected by his teasing. "Which is why I could use a good party!" he exclaimed.

I looked at Emma. "This is a really bad idea, Em."

She turned her body towards me, gripping her hands in mine. "It'll be _so_ much fun, Brynnie," she pleaded. "You have to come. There's no way my parents will let me go if you aren't going. Please, please, please!"

I ignored her for a moment and turned to look at Callum. "Are you going?"

I already knew what his answer would be. Callum might not be a member of the pack right now, but he wasn't going to risk looking like a wimp by not going to a party that they were all attending. I knew he wanted to say no—parties weren't really Callum's idea of a good time. But thanks to the _stupid_ pack, he felt obligated to go, even _before_ he had turned into a wolf.

"It'll be fun, " Callum said, forcing a smile. His eyes pleaded me to forgive him.

I looked away.

"Fine," I sighed. "Emma, if _you_ can convince my parents to let me go to this stupid party, I'll go. But if you get arrested, I will _not_ bail you out of jail by any means."

Emma squealed happily. She clapped her hands together as she bounced in her seat.

Max leaned up close to her face, momentarily stunting her excitement. "Don't worry," he murmured to her. "I would bail you out of jail in a heart beat."

I felt the need to puke all over, but fought down the feeling.

Then, I realized one tiny little problem.

There was absolutely no way my parents were going to allow me to go to this thing after the stunt I pulled on the weekend; no way, whatsoever.

I wasn't sure to be happy or sad about this.

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**Lots of information in that one! Hope you guys liked it :) Don't forget to review!**


	4. Please Say No

**OH MY GOD...I'm updating on time! You guys must be so proud :') And because I did...you have to review ten times more than usual ;) Anyways, this is an important chapter. I really hope you like it :)**

**ALSO: I am totally not ignoring questions asked in reviews - I just don't want to ruin the story for you. But keep the questions coming because often enough they give me some ideas for upcoming chapters! BUT, I can tell you that one person has guessed the correct imprint pairing. Not going to say who, but one of you is right, so good job:)**

**Please review. And Happy Halloween :)**

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"Brynn?" a high-pitched voice called from upstairs.

I placed my pen down on the coffee table in front of me. I tilted my head up towards the ceiling and yelled, "I'm in the living room, Stella!"

It was after school and I was trying to make sense of the stupid history homework I had to do. I always did my homework right away when I got home, only because I always had _so_ much of it. If I didn't, I'd be up until midnight trying to get it all done. But, today, was different.

Emma had already called me three times since we had parted ways into our own homes after school. She wanted me to ask my parents right away about the party. But she knew that they weren't home yet, so her phone calls were just her way of driving me crazy. Dad and Uncle Jared co-owned a construction company that operated in La Push and some of Forks. If her Dad wasn't home, then why would mine be? And my mother didn't work, but she was out grocery shopping for dinner. Emma needed to relax already.

I didn't even _want_ to go to this thing, but I figured if Emma did, I needed to be a good friend and make the effort for her. I had spent most of the time doing my homework thinking of a good way to ask for my parents' permission to go. I knew I needed to approach this carefully; my parents were strict, overprotective and cautious. They weren't going to agree to this easily. But what's a better way to butter up your super strict parents than having all your homework done before they even get home?

_It's official, Brynn, you've officially gone off the deep end, _I thought, shaking my head in dismay at myself.

My twelve-year-old sister bounded into the room, distracting me from my current dilemma. She had a juice-box in her hand and it was dangerously close to dripping on the cream coloured carpet. Her long, wavy hair was tied into a pair of low pigtails and they whipped around as jumped onto the couch. She had already changed out of the clothes she had worn the school—despite the fact that she had only just gotten home about five minutes ago—and was wearing a pair of black gym shorts and a purple tank top. She watched me with her wide eyes and a puzzled expression on her innocent face.

I absolutely loved my little sister to death. We got along better than most sisters did, mostly because we shared each other's interests and hobbies. I was very protective of her and hoped to keep her as innocent and naïve about things in life for as long as possible, considering I hadn't received the same opportunity thanks to my own mistakes. My sister looked up to me, valued my opinions and advice, and I hoped that I would never, ever disappoint her.

"What's up, Stell?" I asked, knowing she had something on her mind.

Stella played with the edge of her hair nervously, not meeting my eyes.

I picked up my glass of water and took a quick drink. I knew prying for an answer would only make her more uptight about whatever it was that was bothering her. She was like a wild deer; you had to be quiet and wait for her to come to you. That was always my approach and I swore by it because it worked almost every time.

"Have you ever been on a date?"

I coughed, spewing my mouthful of water everywhere from my seat on the floor next to the long coffee table. Stella wrinkled her nose in disgust, staring at me as I wiped my mouth, trying to clear my throat. I hadn't expected her to ask anything like _that_.

I was embarrassed by her question and desperately didn't want to answer, but knew I had to. There wasn't really any point in lying to her; she probably already knew the answer. "No," I told her honestly. "I've never been on a date."

She nodded thoughtfully, accepting the answer, before she looked down at the couch again.

I sat up, turning to face her. "Why?"

She didn't answer and a blush formed on her cheeks.

I jumped up and sat down next to her on the couch, pulling her close to my side. I tickled her ribs, grinning as she giggled loudly, squirming to get away from me.

I waited until she had caught her breath from her laughter before I asked again. "Stella, why did you want to know that?"

She sighed deeply, looking at me with eyes wide and serious. "You can't tell _anyone_, Brynn."

I held my pinky finger out towards her. "I won't."

Stella raised her eyebrows at me.

I sighed. "I pinky-promise."

She nodded. "There's this boy in my class at school," she said, playing with a loose thread on her shirt. "He's really cute and funny and smart. Everyone keeps saying that he likes me, but I'm not so sure. I—I wanted to ask him to go to the movies with me."

I tried to keep my facial expressions normal; despite the extreme surprise I was experiencing. My sister was _not_ normally this bold about anything. She was like me a lot that way. I was actually glad to see her being so open about something for once.

"Is it Louis?" I asked, trying to figure out if I knew whom she was talking about.

Louis was Emma's younger brother and Stella's very close friend. I had always wondered if there would ever be something more between the two of them in the future. In a way, I _hoped_ that it _was_ Louis for her sake. If she wanted to go on a date with some boy, it would be a lot easier for her to do so if it was someone our parents already knew.

She laughed loudly—almost hysterically—catching me off guard. "No! I mean, Louis is my best friend, but that's it. I just—just _no_."

"Okay," I said, feeling confused. "Who is it then? Do I know him?"

Stella shook her head. "No, he's only lived here for a couple of months. But, _oh my God_, Brynnie, he's just _so_ cute."

I laughed, but it was forced. I didn't want to crush my sister's sudden confidence, but I knew there wasn't a high chance that my parents would let her go out a boy who was on the outside of our tight knit group. Stella didn't know about the wolves yet. My parents were going to tell her on her thirteenth birthday. But, the more wolves that phased, the more likely she would become someone's imprint. If she got too close to someone who wasn't a part of the supernatural world and she got imprinted on, she would get her feelings hurt without a doubt. I was all for making your own destiny and taking a chance, but I wasn't sure if she should pursue her feelings for this boy.

I didn't want her to get hurt.

But, I wouldn't drag her down right now. She was still a little girl. She deserved to have fun before she became too chained to the werewolf world like the rest of us.

I kept my face perfectly neutral. "Have you guys ever talked about hanging out?"

"No," she mumbled, frowning. "I was kind of hoping that he would ask _me_ out, but I don't know if that will happen. He's not cocky or anything like most guys are. But if he _does_ like me, I don't want him to think that I'm not interested. So, I thought maybe asking him to something casual like the movies wouldn't be so bad."

I stared at her for a moment. Why was it that my twelve-year-old sister had the confidence to ask out the boy she liked; yet _I _could barely tell Callum how I felt about him? It wasn't fair.

"When did you get so smart?" I teased her.

She shoved my shoulder before she moaned, covering her face with her hands in embarrassment. "Brynn," she whined. "Tell me what to do!"

I watched her in amusement for a moment. It was funny seeing her so worked up over something like this, but the amusement was quickly taken over by my concern. I couldn't talk her out of this without giving away the pack secret. She wasn't ready to know and my parents would absolutely kill me. I supposed, she was still young and that maybe; kids going on "dates" in grade seven weren't serious enough that I should be worried. I needed to let her do this.

I pried her hands away from her face. "Stell," I murmured. "You're a smart girl. If you really like this guy and you think that he's as nice as you say he is—" I took a deep breath. "—then, I think you should go for it. You don't need me tell you that."

An ear-splitting grin broke out on my younger sister's face. She leaned forward and kissed my cheek quickly before she stood up. "You're the best, Brynn!" she cried happily before she hurried out of the room.

I collapsed back on the couch in frustration once she was out of sight. I hoped everything would work out okay. I hated lying to my sister, but I wasn't allowed to tell her about the wolves. I just hoped that this was an innocent little crush and it would disappear when the time was right. It was a cruel thing to wish for my little sister, but I didn't want her to get hurt.

"Hello!" a cheerful voice bellowed from the front door.

My eyes widened in realization. My mom was home. I took a deep breath and stood up, smoothing down my shirt nervously. This was it. All I had to do was ask. What was the worst thing that could happen?

_She might say yes_.

"Oh, Emma, you owe me _big_ time," I muttered under my breath.

I closed my textbook and put the lid back on my pen, trying to stall as much time as I possibly could. I left my nearly completed homework on the table and walked towards the kitchen on shaky legs. I would have to finish my homework after I tried to convince my mother to let me go to a party that I didn't want to attend.

Mom was putting away the large pile of groceries she had just bought when I got into the kitchen. Her back was to me as she dug through the bags, obviously looking for something specific. I hesitated at the doorframe, wincing as the floorboards creaked underneath my feet.

She turned around in surprise at the noise, smiling as she caught sight of me. "Hi, baby," she greeted happily. "How was your day?"

My mother was easily one of the happiest people I had ever met. She was truly such an amazing person; so selfless and always thinking of everyone else all the time. I couldn't imagine a better person to be my mother. She was the one person I knew I could always talk to about anything.

I stepped into the kitchen. "It was alright," I said quietly. "Do you want some help?"

Her eyebrows rose in surprise. "Sure," she replied. She dug through a bag and handed me a large package of potatoes. "Can you peel those? They're for dinner."

I nodded and set the bag on the counter. I pulled out the garbage can from under the sink and set it close by. Then, I grabbed the peeler from a drawer and set to work.

It was silent for a long, long moment.

"Is Stella upstairs?" Mom asked.

I nearly choked on air. "Um—yeah, she is. She was doing homework, I think."

_You're welcome, Stella_.

"And Tate—"

"Has patrol until six-ish," I interrupted, looking away from the potato I was peeling.

Mom frowned. "I guess we'll be having a late dinner, then," she sighed, sounding frustrated. "I thought he had today off."

I could understand her frustration—the fact that the boys had random patrol times quite often was hard to work around. I placed my freshly peeled potato into the sink, setting it in a colander. "Ethan kind-of-maybe got detention at school today so Tate had to cover his patrol."

I shook my head at my cousin's antics. Just before lunch had ended today, he had decided it would be in everyone's best interest if he threw an open water bottle towards Emma and Max—who had been in mid-kiss. But unfortunately for Ethan, it had hit _Emma_ and _not_ Max. Water had flown everywhere. Needless to say, Max had pretty much almost phased in the middle of the cafeteria and had to be dragged out by Tate and Cody before he tried to kill Ethan. If Callum hadn't grabbed a hold of Emma, she would have finished off what Max had started on Ethan. Of course, sending even more luck Ethan's way, a teacher had seen pretty much the whole thing and had given him two days of detention for his actions.

"I don't want to know," Mom said with a short laugh. She knew what Ethan was like.

I smirked and began to peel another potato. "What time is Dad supposed to be home from work?"

She turned to look at the clock above the stove. "Not until 4:30."

I took a deep breath. I had about twenty-five minutes until he was supposed to be home. Did I want to ask Mom without Dad here? I watched my mother for a moment as she pulled out a large package of pork chops. I knew I would have a better chance of Mom acting reasonable and calm about the whole thing. Dad on the other hand—he didn't know _how_ to be calm.

The problem was that she was going to know right away that something was up. I never asked for anything from my parents. The fact that I was helping with dinner without being asked probably already had me on her radar.

"So, Emma was talking about this—this _thing_ at lunch today," I spat out, not meaning to say the words aloud.

I immediately began peeling another potato, trying to avoid eye contact.

Mom was watching me with curiousity. "What kind of _thing_?"

I sighed. "You know, just like a _thing_."

Her hands went to her hips. "Brynn, honey, just spit it out."

I bit back a smile at her tone. "Emma got invited to a bonfire this weekend at First Beach. She wants me to go with her. Everyone's going—Callum, Max, Lucas…"

She was silent for what felt like hours.

I looked at her nervously. "Could—_can_ I go?"

"Do you want to go?" Mom asked instead of answering.

This threw me for a curveball. _Of course_ I didn't want to go! That was the whole problem! Mom knew this; she knew that this was all Emma's idea. That was why she was going to be so hard to convince.

"Yeah, I do," I said, cringing at the sound of my voice.

Mom raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure about that? This has Emma written all over it."

_Crap_. "No, I think it'll be—_fun_. I've got to go to at least one of these things, right? See what I've been missing out on."

She sent me a disproving look. "That is one thing I won't agree with," she murmured, pursing her lips.

I held my breath, waiting for her to continue.

"Does Tate have patrol that night?"

I racked my brain, trying to remember if my brother was scheduled to patrol on Saturday. I didn't know how she expected me to keep track. I wasn't sure how the _pack_ managed to keep track. Patrols were usually in the air, mostly decided last minute, but since more kids were phasing these days, they really had to buckle down and create an actual schedule.

As far as I knew, Cody was going to remain in the Alpha position for a little while yet. He was one of the oldest wolves. But now that Trey had phased, it wouldn't be long before he took over the position from Cody. Cody would then drop down to Beta. Since Sam—Trey's dad—had been Alpha during his generation, it only made sense that Trey would take over that roll too. From what Tate had told me, Cody would only remain as Alpha until he decided that Trey was ready to step up.

"I think he as an afternoon patrol," I told her. "I'm not positive though."

She nodded as she pulled out a head of lettuce and began washing it in the sink.

I leaned against the countertop and waited, potatoes momentarily forgotten. I knew that if I rushed her to make a decision that it probably wouldn't help me in the long run.

"I suppose that if wouldn't hurt for you to go out and have some fun," she mused. "But only if Tate will go with you and only if you _truly_ want to go. I'll call Kim and discuss it with her, just to make sure we're on the same page. And if you promise to be as responsible as I know you are, yes, you can go."

I grinned and hurried over to hug her.

I finished peeling the rest of the potatoes, knowing that just because she had said yes didn't mean that I was allowed to skip out helping with the rest of dinner. I washed them before I set them in a big pot to boil.

In a sense, I was glad that my mother seemed to trust me to go to this party. I knew she was still a little upset over me sneaking out of the house the other night. Her saying yes had been a big shock.

But I almost had hoped that she would say no. I wanted to go—for Emma's sake—but I was also a little scared. I didn't know what a high school party would be like. Not to mention, I wasn't sure I _wanted_ to know in the first place.

I helped Mom assemble the rest of dinner, hoping to distract myself from my worries. We had just placed the majority of it in the oven when the front door banged open loudly.

"I'm home," Dad called.

My eyes flashed up to Mom's. It was not going to be easy to convince Dad to let me go to this thing.

She shooed me with her oven mitt. "Go finish your homework while this cooks," she said. "I'll take care of it."

I beamed and kissed her cheek quickly. "Thanks, Momma."

I skipped out of the kitchen and disappeared back into the living room. I called out a greeting to Dad, in which he responded back in a tired tone. I sat on the floor and opened up my history textbook, smiling a little.

I was going to my first high school party.

I didn't know whether to jump for joy or go into hiding.

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**Thanks for reading :) Please, please, please review :)**


	5. Too Much Hype

**Next chapter, yay. I do have to say though, I am slightly disappointed with the lack of reviews for the last chapter. Your reviews mean a lot to me. I like to know that people are truly happy with this story and that I'm not just writing it for my own enjoyment. Though, I do enjoy writing this story a lot. But, I know you all have busy lives…trust me, college school work is pretty much all I do these days. But…if you have thirty seconds just to drop a review, I'd definitely love it!**

**Again, thank you for all your support. Hope you enjoy this chapter :)**

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"She just won't _shut up_ about it," I complained unhappily.

Callum laughed and tossed the football in my direction. I caught it, having to take a step backwards to balance myself from the pressure of the ball. Normally, playing football with him wasn't something that knocked me on my butt. He was a lot stronger than he used to be and I was trying to forget the reason for that. I threw it back to him, satisfied as it spiralled in the air right into his waiting arms.

"It might be fun," he said, twirling the ball in his hands.

I stuck my hands on my hips. "I highly doubt that."

He threw the ball to me again. "Don't you want to go?"

I let out a little _oomph_ as I snagged the ball between my arms and my chest. "No…yes—_I don't know_," I cried in frustration. "I don't want to seem like a loser but I'm kind of scared. What if something happens?"

Callum frowned. "Well, first, you _aren't_ a loser, Brynnie. And second, you don't have to worry about anything like that. I'd never let anything happen to you."

I bit my lip, trying to hide my smile. Before I could say something that would have me hiding out from the world in embarrassment, I chucked the ball back in his direction. I tried to ignore the fact that my heart was beating uncontrollably.

"Well _thanks_," I said after a moment. "But that still doesn't really help."

He stopped, mid-throw, and cast me a concerned look. "Everything will be fine."

Emily stuck her head out the backdoor. "Kids, dinner is ready! Hurry up and get some before it's all gone."

I walked towards Callum, who was closer to the back porch. He grabbed my hand when I was close enough, giving it a squeeze, before he crushed me to his side and led me into the house.

It was Wednesday after school and as an ongoing tradition from when we were little kids; I was over at Callum's house. Every Wednesday for as long as I could remember, Emily made homemade pizza for dinner. She always made too much—more than enough to feed an army—so there were always tons of pack members over as well.

I loved having dinner at their house. I enjoyed the company of everyone who always seemed to make themselves at home at the Uleys'. Well, they made themselves feel at home at _anyone's _house really, but it was still a tradition. I wasn't going to miss it for the world.

I followed Callum through the backdoor that led right into the big kitchen. I kicked off my shoes, not wanting to track mud through Emily's clean house, and grabbed a ceramic blue plate off of the table.

"Thanks for letting us come over, Auntie Em," I murmured softly.

Emily patted my cheek gently. "Don't be silly, sweetheart," she exclaimed. "We wouldn't have pizza Wednesday's without you."

I blushed deeply.

Despite my parents' earlier sentence of not letting me out of the house, tonight they had made an exception. Dad and Uncle Jared had to go and meet a new client for work in Port Angeles. Mom and Aunt Kim decided to go with them, making a date night out of it. Mom had planned on leaving us money to order in from our house. Emma and her siblings were supposed to join us, as well. I hadn't wanted to be stuck at home all night long; so I suggested that we ask Auntie Emily if we could just go over to their house like usual.

We all knew that the pizza would taste much better than it would from any delivery place, anyhow.

I grabbed the smallest piece of plain cheese pizza from the large kitchen table, placing it on my plate.

Callum's head was stuck inside the stainless steel refrigerator. He turned around after a moment and held up a can of pop in my direction. I wrinkled my nose in response.

"Right, right," he sighed, shaking his head. "_Don't offer her pop, Callum, she might spontaneously combust._"

I raised an eyebrow. "I heard that."

He straightened up from the fridge and held out a bottle of water as a peace offering. "Sorry, what in the _world_ was I thinking, Brynnie?"

I snatched the bottle from him with a warning look.

He slung his arm around my shoulders. "Aw, don't be mad," he whined. "I can't help it if you're a health freak."

I rolled my eyes.

Callum wasn't far off the mark with his complaint of my eating habits. I _was_ extremely overcautious of everything I ate. I didn't eat a lot and from the time I had been a little kid, I had never had a very big appetite. No one was really sure _why_ and my parents had even taken me to a few doctors when I was younger. Turns out, it was just the way I was—an extremely self-conscious, healthy eater. Not many people had accepted that fact though. Callum was probably number one on that list.

Of course, he was used to my eating habits, but that didn't stop him from making fun of them every opportunity he got. He thought I was nuts for eating the way I did. His comments used to drive me crazy, but I had grown used to them now. That didn't mean that they weren't annoying sometimes, though.

Uncle Sam walked into the room. "Callum, are you bugging Brynn?"

I grinned happily.

Callum sputtered at his father, unable to come up with a real response for a long moment. "No," he finally spit out. "Brynn _loves_ me, Dad. I'd never be a bothersome to her."

Little did he know how true his words were, but I forced a smile on my face all the same.

Uncle Sam leaned down to ruffle my hair as he passed. He eyed my plate carefully. "That's all you're eating, Brynnie?"

"Saving room for dessert," I told him, hoping to avoid an argument.

Callum sent me a look that told me he was about thirty seconds from calling me out.

"Hurry up, you guys!" Trey called from the living room.

Callum gently shoved me in the direction of the living room. "C'mon, weirdo," he teased. "Let's go before Trey loses his patience."

"I wouldn't have to lose my patience if you guys would just hurry up and get your asses out here so we can start the movie," Trey complained.

"Watch your language, Trey," Uncle Sam demanded.

I followed Callum into the living room and hurried over to grab the last available cushion on the couch next to my brother. I shoved his legs with my free hand, silently telling him to make room. He grumbled through a mouthful of pizza, shaking his head at my silent request. I pushed at him again with a pleading look. Finally, he gave me a little more room, allowing me to happily plop onto the couch next to him. He didn't waste any time placing his feet right onto my lap, leaving me pretty much immobile and stuck in my spot.

Callum sat on the ground in front of me and leaned back against my knees. He dug into his food right away.

"Is that everyone?" Trey asked grumpily.

I glanced around the room.

Emma was sitting on the other side of my brother, an unhappy expression on her face as she chewed her pizza right down to dust in her mouth. Max was forced to do a late night patrol tonight, so I knew she was angry that she didn't get to spend the night with him, but I knew that wasn't the entire cause of her sour mood. She had barely spoken to me since we had gotten here. Today at school, she had found me right away, ecstatic about the fact that her parents had agreed to let her go to the party. Then, when I hadn't shared her enthusiasm, she had become angry. Obviously, she still wasn't over it.

Trey was sitting on the lone recliner, TV remote in hand as he waited _ever so_ patiently. We were supposed to be watching a movie—one that the boys picked. Callum had ordered him to not start the movie until we had come back from tossing the football around out back.

"Cody's just getting food," Emma murmured to him.

"Where's Stella?" I asked Tate.

He swallowed his mouthful of food before he answered. "She went upstairs with Adam and Louis to play a board game."

I nodded, satisfied. I was glad she wouldn't be watching the movie. Knowing these boys, the movie was going to leave me with nightmares for a week. They didn't exactly share the weak stomach that I had. After fighting vampires constantly, a little scary movie didn't bother them in the slightest. Keeping her occupied with Louis and Adam, who was Callum's younger brother, was a smart choice.

Tate gave me a light nudge in the side with his elbow. "Eat your food, Brynnie," he ordered softly.

With a dramatic sigh, I deliberately took a large, messy bite of my pizza, chewing obnoxiously in his face.

He chuckled before he mussed my hair with his free hand. I leaned away from him, smoothing down my now-frizzy hair with an unimpressed expression on my face.

Cody came into the room a minute later with a plate full of pizza and two cans of pop. He looked around the room before he eventually came over to where I was sitting. He shoved Callum out of the way with his foot before he looked down at me.

I knew exactly what he was about to say and I quickly shook my head. "No way. I just sat down."

"There's nowhere else to sit," he complained. "C'mon, move it."

I raised an eyebrow, challenging him. "I am _not_ one of your boys, so don't treat me as such. There are plenty of other spots you can take. Like sit with your dear, darling sister. Or join Callum on the ground."

"Take my spot and I'll bite you," Emma announced without looking up from her cell phone screen.

I was about to take another bite of my pizza when my plate suddenly disappeared onto Tate's lap. I was then airborne, in Cody's arms, and I thought for sure that I was thirty seconds away from being rudely deposited onto the floor. But, Cody surprised me by sitting down in my spot with me on his lap. I landed a little roughly, half lying on him and half lying on Tate.

"I never agreed to this," I pointed out. I took my pizza back from Tate, leaning away from Cody and closer to him.

"Everybody shut up," Trey growled. "The movie is starting."

God, they were all so moody today.

Callum moved closer to the TV screen, laying out flat on the carpet. I felt a pang of disappointment hit me. He was sitting so far away now. Cody had completely ruined my plan to sit close to him during the movie. I snuck a quick glance at Cody, hoping that he hadn't planned on doing that on purpose. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that was probably just what he had wanted.

Stupid, over-protective wolves.

I forced myself to focus on the TV for a while. The movie, much to my dismay, was really gory. I spent the majority of it watching through my fingers or cringing into Tate's broad shoulder. The guys laughed at my expense, seeming to watch my reactions more than the actual movie.

I wasn't even really sure what the movie was about. Every time I tried to get into it, I got distracted thinking about Callum. My feelings for him were starting to get out of control. I wanted to tell him how I felt—I needed to. But I was scared that if he didn't feel the same way it would ruin our friendship. I couldn't face losing him.

The only part of the movie that I truly watched all of happened to be the worst part. The main character was hiding in some sort of an alley, trying to escape whatever sort of monster was trying to kill him. The room was silent, everyone staring at the screen while we waited to see what would happen. Just before the creature was about to jump out at the character, the Uleys' front door banged open loudly and someone yelled, "Hey, why is it so dark in here?"

Emma let out a little shriek. I jumped about a foot in the air.

Tate's hand rested on my hair, smoothing it away from my face as he tried to calm me. I could feel him shaking with laughter, obviously highly amused by my reaction. I glanced around the room, trying to control my unsteady heartbeat. I felt annoyed, realizing that none of the wolves seemed affected by the loud, unexpected interruption. They had probably heard whoever it was moments before they had even stepped on the front porch. Even Callum hadn't looked overly surprised in the slightest.

The lights flipped on, illuminating the big figures of Ethan and Lucas. They both looked around the room, desperately looking for somewhere to sit. Coming up empty, Ethan ended up shoving Emma over, forcing her to curl up against his side. He reached over and snagged a piece of pizza from Tate's plate, nearly shoving the whole thing in his mouth all at once to avoid Tate's attempt to steal it back. Lucas walked over and sat down on top of Callum's back. Callum immediately flipped him and the two began wrestling.

"Did you guys switch already?" Cody asked, looking at Ethan.

Ethan nodded, looking uncharacteristically serious. "Max has the double, so he's still out there. Zach and Brandon took Ashton's and my spots. I picked Luke up when I dropped Ashton off at home."

Ashton Aterea was Lucas' older brother. He was the same age as Cody. He was a nice guy, a lot like Lucas, only a little cruder than his younger brother. Zach and Brandon were both seniors as well. I didn't know either of them very well, but I had chatted with Brandon a few times during pack get-togethers. Zach was usually too caught up in his own anger or hooking up with any girl he could to really contribute too much to anything else.

"So, I heard this weekend's party is going to be huge," Ethan said excitedly.

Cody sighed heavily from underneath me. "It's too big for my liking," he complained. "We're going to have to keep a close watch on it during patrol. It can't get too out of hand."

Tate looked up suddenly. "Who's patrolling that night?"

I knew the majority of the boys were hoping to have the night off so they could attend the party themselves. But, they obviously realized that not all of them could go. Someone was going to have to actually step up and take a patrol shift. Although, after looking at the expression on Cody's face, I had a feeling that he was just going to randomly assign them without really too much thought otherwise. It would probably be the best way to go, in order to save arguments.

"I can't," Tate told him before he could respond. "The rents are making me babysit the bratty sister at the party."

I flicked his forehead. "Shut up, it's not like I'm six-years-old."

Cody sat up straighter, forcing me to slide further against my brother. "I already gave Max the night off too, so he can go with Emma," he mused. "Plus, with so many people out that night, we're going to need to put a few extra on patrol, just in case there's an incident."

The room was eerily silent, waiting for his verdict. I felt extremely uncomfortable.

"I'm going to patrol, obviously," he stated. "Trey, you're going to as well. This is a good learning experience for you. Ethan, Brandon and Parker can join us."

Parker was another member of the pack that was the same age as Tate. He was a quiet kid, but I had spoken with him a number of times. He hung out with Tate occasionally, even before they had phased. I could actually tolerate his presence; something I found incredibly trying when it came to most of my brother's friends.

Ethan groaned loudly. "Thanks a lot, Cody."

Trey nodded in agreement, looking slightly disappointed. The poor guy had been running patrols like no tomorrow, according to Tate. Cody was trying to get him prepped as much as possible for taking over the Alpha position. With an opportunity to patrol on a busy night like that, he couldn't really miss it.

Cody smirked. "Don't mention it."

I felt bad for my cousin. I knew he had been looking forward to this bonfire. For the first time, I wished that I was part of the pack but only so I could take his shift. I felt bad that I was going to the party when there people who actually _wanted_ to go but couldn't. I supposed I could have told Tate that I didn't want to go and he could have possibly switched with Ethan, but something told me that there would be two very unhappy people if I did that. Tate would be angry because he would have to patrol and Emma would hate me for ditching her.

Tate let out a short laugh from underneath me. "Don't worry, Ethan. I'll have a good time in your honor."

Ethan sent him a threatening look. "If your sister wasn't sitting so close to you, you'd be dead by now."

My brother just cuddled me closer to his body, waggling his eyebrows mischievously at our cousin.

Cody stood up, resulting in me going face first into Tate's leg. I grumbled at him under my breath, sitting up in my spot once more. He took a deep breath before he addressed the room.

"You guys can't be total idiots just because you aren't on patrol," he said sternly. "You have a standard to uphold. Not to mention, you will be in charge of keeping an eye out on the beach. You need to watch out for the girls, number one, as well as the un-phased boys. You also need to make sure nothing weird is going on. Keep your eyes open for any bloodsuckers that might slip onto the beach."

I shivered. I didn't want to hear this conversation. I wasn't a part of the pack. The party was still three days away, therefore _now_ was _not_ an appropriate time for Cody to be giving out instructions. He knew better than that. Non-pack members weren't allowed to sit in on pack meetings. I didn't need to hear this right now.

I stood up quickly and placed my plate on the overflowing table in front of me. I hurried out of the room without a word. I could feel everyone's eyes on my back.

"Nice going, _stupid_," someone growled.

"Seriously, Cody, couldn't you have just waited until later?" someone else asked.

"Brynn," Tate called, sounding concerned.

I slipped past Auntie Emily and Uncle Sam, who were sitting at the kitchen table. They both looked up as I went, looking concerned.

"Brynn?" Uncle Sam asked. "Is everything okay, kiddo?"

I didn't answer. I shoved my feet into my running shoes and opened the backdoor, slamming it shut behind me. The wind blew around me and the cool temperature was a shock to my system after sitting so close to the boys inside. I ignored how cold I felt and sat down on the top step of the porch. I wiped a tear off my cheek in frustration, burying my face into my knees instead.

The backdoor opened not two minutes later and shut quietly. I didn't have to turn around to know who it was. The footsteps were quiet and cautious as they approached me.

Callum sat down beside me. He put his strong arm around my torso, pulling me in close to his side. I lifted my face, turning to bury it into his shoulder.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. His fingers ran lightly up and down my back as he tried to soothe me.

I nodded, trying to keep the tears at bay.

At least someone understood how I felt.

As long as I had Callum, I would be just fine.

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**Please review!**


	6. Party Too Hardy

**Ahh, such a wonderfully huge response from last chapter. Thank you, thank you, thank you! Your reviews literally make my day :) **

**So, just a huge alert here, this chapter is a) pretty intense and b) VERY important! This is the chapter that gets things rolling. Now, I know that some of you are a little angry with me because the imprinting hasn't happened yet. I know you're feeling impatient, but there is a reason it hasn't happened yet. A few more things need to happen before Brynn finds her imprint. You have to remember, imprinting is supposed to be a rarity, so it's not going to happen right away. So, please, be patient. I promise it's worth it :)**

**Anyways, enjoy this chapter :) Don't forget to review xoxo**

* * *

I sat at the kitchen table with my legs curled up underneath my body. My fingers tapped impatiently against the tabletop as I waited for the night to get underway. My stomach was in knots.

It was Saturday night. The party was supposed to start in fifteen minutes or so and I was _still_ waiting for Emma and Max to show up. She had texted me about twenty-five minutes ago, claiming that she was nearly ready, but she had yet to arrive.

I didn't understand what was taking her so long. She had all day long to get ready for this stupid thing. Besides it was _just_ a bonfire, not the prom, for goodness sake. The only thing she needed to worry about was how many sweatshirts she needed to bring in order to keep from freezing to death when the sun went down.

I had been ready for almost an hour now. I had straightened my usually wavy, mid-back length, brownish-black hair and applied a little more makeup than I usually wore, but other than that, I hadn't changed a thing. I wore a pair of ripped skinny jeans tucked into a pair of hiking boots and an old sweatshirt of Tate's that was so big on me it nearly swallowed my body. I didn't care how I looked; I was _warm_.

Tate was watching me fidget from his chair across the table. He was wearing a pair of jeans and a plaid shirt that I had never seen before. He looked about as impatient as I felt. He had even threatened more than once to go over to Emma's house and drag her to the beach himself. Patience was _not_ a virtue that my brother attained.

"Brynn, sweetheart, are you sure you're feeling okay?" Dad asked for about the fourth time in the last half hour. He was making a big pot of coffee at the counter behind me.

"I'm okay," I told him. My shaking voice betrayed me.

He didn't look overly convinced by my answer.

The doorbell rang, saving me from having to answer any more questions. Tate and I both jumped up from our chairs eagerly—Tate actually excited for the party, while I was more concerned about just getting the night over and done with.

Dad followed closely behind us to the front door. He cleared his throat loudly before Tate could turn the doorknob. He sent us both a stern look. He was the only one home tonight; Mom had taken Stella and one of her friends from school to the mall. I suddenly wondered if this had been planned on purpose—Dad was a whole lot stricter than Mom was.

"You make sure you watch over your sister tonight," he ordered, addressing Tate. "Make sure she stays out of trouble."

My brother nodded in response, looking serious.

Dad turned his gaze on me. "Do you have your cell phone?"

"Yes," I said, patting the front pocket of my jeans as proof.

"Good," he replied gently. "Make sure you call me if you have any problems at all. Or even if you just want to come home early, okay?"

"Okay, Daddy," I agreed quietly.

He frowned at me before he reached down to hug me tightly. I leaned into his warmth, comforted for the duration of the hug. I wished that he would suddenly forbid me from going. I didn't want to go.

But he pulled away after a long moment. "Have fun."

"Bye, Dad," Tate said, opening the door to reveal Emma and Max.

I followed my brother out the door, pulling on my thick black windbreaker as I went.

"Be home by 12:30," Dad reminded us. "I'll be waiting up to make sure you get in okay."

"Okay, Dad!" Tate called back.

I turned and waved at him as he shut the front door.

We all started towards the beach. Max and Tate were walking up a little farther ahead of Emma and I, deep in conversation. I walked beside Emma at a slow pace, turning to study her. She had curled her hair and braided her bangs out of her face. She wore a pair of jeans similar to mine and a pink knit cardigan over a plain white tank top.

"Do you have a death wish?" I asked her, shaking her arm. "You're going to freeze to death. How did you get out of your house dressed like that?"

Emma grinned and her teeth were bright against the almost-dark night. "Mom and Dad went out for dinner and besides, I've got Max to warm me up if I get cold."

I pretended to gag. "Oh please. You dragged me to this party, the least you can do is lay off the boyfriend talk for the night."

She stuck her tongue out at me. "Fine, sorry," she said, even though I knew she wasn't.

The walk to the beach only took about twenty minutes. It probably would have been much quicker if we went through the forest path, but everyone was nice enough to not mention that option; even though I knew they were all thinking about it. The boys were used to being in the forest; it was where they patrolled for vampires.

"C'mon, slowpoke," Tate called.

I realized that Emma had joined the two boys and all three of them were quite far ahead of me. I reluctantly picked up my pace until I caught up to them. Tate put his arm around my back, bringing me close to his side. For once, I was okay with being babied by him. I was nervous.

The music greeted us before the actual beach did. The bass was loud and it echoed inside my head. Someone had strung lanterns along the tree line, outlining the small path that led to the beach. I followed everyone down the path and into the party.

I was surprised by how many people were here already. A bonfire the size of the statue of Liberty burned to my right and a makeshift dance floor was to my left. In the distance, I could see people swimming in the water, despite how cold it was. I didn't miss how everyone's eyes went to my brother and Max the moment we arrived.

Tate leaned down to talk into my ear. "I'm just going to go and see a couple people from school for a bit. Will you be okay with Emma and Max?"

I give him a quick nod. I didn't want to be that girl who needed her brother to stay with her for the whole time, even if I was. He deserved to have some fun. I waved him towards his friends with a small smile. He pecked my cheek before disappearing into a big crowd of people near the massive fire.

Emma appeared beside me, linking her arm in mine. "Isn't this just great?"

I just nodded in return, unsure of how to respond. I could barely hear her over the loud music and I knew she wouldn't be able to hear me. Either way, "great" was not the word that I would have chosen to describe this situation.

"C'mon, let's go get a drink," she shouted.

I let her drag me in the direction of the two big drink coolers. I glanced around us, trying to find a familiar face. I didn't see anyone. "Where did Max go?" I asked suddenly.

Emma shrugged. "Oh, he just had to go do something," she told me. "He'll be right back."

Something told me that she wasn't exactly telling me the truth. It wasn't like Max to let her out of his sight for too long, especially in a place with _so_ many people. I couldn't shake the feeling that this was _not_ going to turn out to be a very good night.

I felt almost relieved when we reached the coolers. The speakers, which the music was blasting from, were quite a distance away now and I was thankful. I rubbed my forehead with my fingertips, glad to be able to hear myself think once again. Who knew that music could get _that_ loud?

Emma walked up to one of the coolers and began to dig through it. I took example of her actions and opened the other one. I searched inside it for a moment before I pulled out a chilled bottle of water. I juggled it from hand to hand, wincing at its cold temperature.

I turned around to say something to Emma and was shocked to find her pulling out two cans of beer from the cooler she had been rifling through. I grabbed her wrist.

"What are you _doing_?" I hissed. "Number one, you're underage and number two, you don't drink. Have you lost your mind?"

"For the love of God, Brynn," Emma cried angrily. "We're at a _party_. Let loose a little. Besides, I'm not going to drink a lot but I've got to hold up my appearance. First impressions are _everything_, you know."

I stared after her as she stalked over to an overturned log set up underneath two trees, suddenly realizing what her problem was. She and Max were clearly fighting over something; it was written all over her face. It definitely explained his absence.

With a loud sigh, I hurried over to her and sat down next to her. I held my unopened bottle of water in my hand gingerly. I refused to set it down anywhere since I actually planned on drinking it. I didn't trust people.

Emma, anger momentarily forgotten, cracked open a can of beer and sniffed it. Shrugging, she took a big swig, cringing. "Ugh, this stuff is _awful_."

I noticed that its supposedly bad taste didn't stop her from continuing to drink it, though.

Only a half hour later, Emma had nearly finished both of her drinks. She was starting to get a little tipsy, wobbling occasionally in her spot on the log. It worried me.

I looked around the busy beach again. I was freezing and I still hadn't seen anyone I knew from the moment we had sat down. I wanted Callum or my brother or even Max—just someone I knew I could trust.

An unfamiliar boy came towards us, resting a cooler on the top of his shoulder like it was the most natural thing in the world to do. He stopped right in front of us with a grin. "You ladies need a refill?"

Emma nodded eagerly. "Absolutely, we do!"

The boy laughed at her exuberance and handed her a beer. He took out another one and held it out to me, staring at me in confusion when I didn't jump up to grab it from him. It took me a moment to recognize the awkwardness of the situation. I blinked quickly; taking note of the pointed look Emma was sending me and grabbed the can from his outstretched hand. I smiled briefly in his direction, just to be polite.

He walked away after a moment, shaking his head. I felt stupid.

The sound of a beer can opening caught my attention.

"Emma, you're seriously not going to drink that, are you?" I asked with nervous concern. "I mean; he could have done something to it. Not to mention, you're already acting all loopy and stuff. If you get completely drunk, your parents, not to mention _Max_, who I hope to _God_ is looking for us right now, will kill you. Don't you think you've had enough?"

She took a long sip from the new can of beer. "You're such a party pooper, Brynnie. You never have any fun. Don't you ever get tired of being a stick in the mud all the time?"

I fell silent, wounded by her words. Is that what she really thought? Is that what everyone thought? Was I truly boring and didn't know how to have any fun?

I knew she was drunk. I knew I couldn't count on her words to be completely coherent, but the thought must have surfaced from somewhere. If she had been sober, she might not have said it out loud, but she most definitely must have been thinking about it before now.

We didn't speak to one another for a while and if even possible, more people arrived at the party. First Beach was now completely crowded. I had never seen so many people in one place before. Everywhere I looked, people were drinking, dancing and yelling. I felt a little claustrophobic. The more people that sat down near us, the less I felt like I could breathe properly. I glanced up in Emma's direction, noticing that she had gone abnormally quiet altogether.

But she wasn't there.

I got to my feet, looking around frantically. There were so many people, that it took me much longer to spot her than I had hoped. I finally caught sight of her as she headed down the beach towards the water. I quickly hurried after her, wondering what in the world she thought she was doing. In fact, I could care less what she thought—the point was she couldn't go off on her own. Especially if she was drunk and guessing by the four empty cans of beer that she had consumed in such a short period of time, she most definitely was.

"Emma," I cried desperately once I had caught up to her. "Emma, what are you doing?"

She spun around at the sound of my voice, staggering in her spot for a moment before she smiled widely. "_Brynn_," she exclaimed. "When did you get here? It's _such_ a fun party."

Oh dear God.

"Em," I murmured to her, gently grabbing her wrist. "C'mon, let's just go back to the party, okay?"

She ripped her hand from my grasp quickly. "_No_," she cried. "I've gotta find Max. I need to talk to him."

I hurried to keep up with her as she continued her way down the beach. "But—but Max is back that way!"

Leave it to those two to get into a fight the moment we get to a party. I wasn't overly surprised. Emma was quite high strung and didn't always care to listen to what other people thought. She had probably said something to Max that had completely upset him, forcing him to retreat to the forest to cool down for a bit. Even drunk as could be, Emma was obviously hurting over the fight and figured she needed to go find Max. But, I was almost positive Max was somewhere back at the beach—which is where I hoped we would be returning to right away.

Emma didn't bother to respond to what I had said and soon, we had reached the very far end of First Beach. No one ever came down this way; it was even past the cliffs. And now, I could see why.

We stood right on the edge of the deepest forest in all of La Push. Emma didn't hesitate as she disappeared into the coverage of the trees. But, I sure did.

"Emma," I hissed. "Emma Cameron, get _out_ of there right now!"

"No," she told me again. "I'm going to find Max."

I watched her stumble over a broken tree and nearly fall. I made an uncomfortable noise in my throat unsure of what to do. The first thing that went through my mind was to hightail it out of here and go back and get help, but I was worried to leave her alone. She could be halfway through the trees before I got back. If I went in after her, I could probably drag her out, using her drunkenness to my advantage.

It took me a long time to convince myself that I wouldn't get eaten the moment I set foot in the woods. But, the longer I put it off, the farther Emma seemed to go. Before I could change my mind, I hurried in after her.

I held my breath as I walked gingerly past the trees. My eyes were on the ground as I picked up my pace, making sure I didn't trip over anything. I looked up in confusion as I watched Emma stop suddenly and lean against a tree, using it to balance her as she became unsteady on her feet. I ran over to her while she was momentarily distracted.

I gulped air into my lungs as I skidded to a stop in front of her. I grabbed her forearm tightly, flinging her body around so she was facing me. "Are you out of your _mind_?" I yelled, my voice scratchy from lack of oxygen. "We can't be in here, Emma! Do you know how pissed everyone is going to be when they find out? Emma, _c'mon_, we have to go back right now!"

I glanced around frantically after I finished yelling. I hoped to God that there was at least one member of the pack patrolling this part of the woods right now.

Emma opened her mouth to retaliate but then spun around to face the nearest bush. I winced as she retched, puking loudly onto the ground. She fell onto her hands and knees, bracing herself on the ground as she continued to be sick. I moved forward, to hold her hair back, but then thought better of it. Emma didn't like being touched when she was throwing up; I had learned that in grade five when she had the stomach flu. Needless to say, I had ended up with a black eye.

"Aw, it's in my hair," she complained giddily. She spat on the ground for good measure.

Then, she stood up, looking as happy as ever; as if she had completely forgotten she had just puked her guts out all over the forest floor. She looked at me in confusion. "Where are we going?"

I stared at her for a long moment before I shook my head. I grabbed her hand—the one without the puke all over it. "We're going _back_ to the beach."

I started in the direction we had come from, pulling Emma's deadweight along with me. She stumbled loudly behind me—yelling and singing at the top of her lungs as she continued to tell me how _fun_ the party was. I ignored her, focusing on stepping around rocks and twigs as carefully as I could. I was fuming with anger towards her. I couldn't even get my thoughts straight.

After we had passed the same misshaped rock three times, I stopped, biting down hard on my bottom lip in frustration.

Emma stomped her foot. "You got us lost," she accused me angrily.

"We're _not_ lost," I told her. "And once we get out of here, you're _never_ drinking alcohol _ever_ again."

She smiled dreamily. "It tasted _funny_."

I rolled my eyes. "Oh, yeah, I'm sure it did," I agreed half-heartedly. "C'mon let's go this way."

Fifteen minutes later we still hadn't found the way out. I was desperately trying not to panic. I had to stay calm because if I didn't, there was _no_ way we were going to get out of here. It was kind of hard, though. I mean, _no one_ knew where we were and I was almost positive that it was close to my curfew. Plus, Emma was pretty much too drunk to function like a normal person, so she was really no help at all.

I suddenly remembered my cell phone in my pocket. I hastily pulled it out, planning to call Tate. But, just my luck, I had absolutely no service whatsoever. I kicked at a tree angrily. I didn't know what to do.

"What are we gonna do?" Emma whined.

I didn't say anything, not wanting to snap at her. Despite the fact that this _was_ her fault, she wasn't exactly in control of her body right now. I had never hated alcohol more than this moment.

A twig snapped loudly to the left. I froze.

Emma perked up. "Max?"

I watched in defeat as she took off in a clumsy run, in the complete opposite direction that we had been going.

I ran after her without thinking, yelling out her name. This was ridiculous. We weren't supposed to be in here—not now, not ever. Even more so, we definitely shouldn't be running off towards the sound of someone's—or_ something's_—footsteps. Emma obviously assumed that it was someone from the pack, but what if she was wrong? I knew it couldn't be Max—he had to be back at the beach, where he was probably, without a doubt, having a complete and utter heart attack.

My foot caught on a gnarled tree root that jutted out of the ground. I struggled to keep myself steady, but my feet fumbled underneath me. My ankle twisted at an alarming angle and I was immediately sent sprawling to the ground. My head smacked against something hard. I groaned, sitting up quickly with leftover adrenaline.

It wasn't one of my smartest ideas—everything around me spun.

I blinked, trying to get my bearings. "Emma?" I called out, wincing as my own voice sent my head reeling.

My stomach turned unhappily at the eerie silence. Black dots frenzied in front of my eyes.

_Do not panic. Do not panic. Do not—_

"Emma!" I shouted again.

I tried to stand up, but my feet gave out on me and I landed in a heap in the dirt. I cursed loudly. How was I supposed to get out of here if I couldn't even stand up on my own? My head spun and everything was blurry—like I was sitting underwater. My forehead throbbed.

Something sticky and warm dribbled onto my cheek. I gingerly reached up to touch it, grimacing as my hand became stained with a deep red liquid. That couldn't be blood, could it?

"Hello?" I whispered, unable to find the energy to shout again.

This was just fantastic. I had _no_ clue where I was or where Emma had disappeared. I could barely see five feet in front of me because, a) it was so dark and b) I was too dizzy to focus on anything.

"I'm going to die," I moaned out loud. "I can see the headlines now. 'Girl goes to first high school party and gets murdered in the woods'. Oh my God, I'm actually going to die."

It suddenly dawned on me that not only was I lost, but also I was lost in the middle of the woods once again. It was like history repeating itself. I was almost positive I was bleeding and pretty much had no way to defend myself. Now, all I had to do was just wait for the vampire to show up. It was like a sick joke that fate was playing on me.

I wasn't really sure how long I had sat there, evidently losing my mind, before I heard another twig snap under someone's foot. More followed and each one was closer than the one before.

I held my breath and tears pricked the corner of my eyes. This was it. I was done for.

A figure emerged out of a group of thick trees in front of me, blurry in my vision. As a delayed reaction, I screamed.

"Hey, hey, hey," a familiar voice was quick to soothe. "Shh, Brynnie, it's okay. You're okay."

It felt like forever before I could place the voice. "Lucas?"

"I'm right here," he promised, coming closer. His steps were slow, over exaggerated, as if he was trying not to frighten me further.

Tears pricked the corner of my eyes once more and soon I was crying again, but this time out of relief.

Warm arms appeared around me almost instantly. I leaned into them, comforted by the familiarity of them. My heart felt like it was going to burst out of my chest and I was almost positive I was about thirty seconds away from throwing up everything I had eaten earlier that day.

But at least Lucas was here.

"You're okay," he said again, his voice soft in my ear. "Shh, don't cry. You're safe."

He pulled away after a long moment, crouching down in the dirt beside me. His hands were gentle as they turned my chin towards him, so he could see my eyes. I blinked several times, relieved to find that his face was a little less blurry than it had been before. I could see him frown worriedly as his eyes focused on a spot on my face. His silence was starting to make me nervous.

"Brynn," he murmured. "Did you hit your head? Do you remember?"

I bit my lip. _Had_ I hit my head? I wasn't sure. I could remember chasing Emma—_drunken_ Emma through these stupid woods. Then, there was nothing.

My eyes widened suddenly. Oh my God, _Emma_. Where had she gone?

"Lucas," I cried hoarsely. "Where did Emma go? She was—she was mad at Max. I tried to follow her and told her 'no'; that we shouldn't come in here. But she—she didn't _listen_! T-then she threw up and we heard this weird noise. She thought she had heard Max but I knew it wasn't him. And then I tripped and—_oh_, I must have hit my head—on a rock or something. Then everything went all funny and Emma was gone."

I was hysterical. Nothing I had just said made any sense whatsoever. But, I was far too unaware of everything to be embarrassed by it.

Lucas stared at me with worry for a moment, before he squeezed my hands tightly in his. "Emma's okay," he assured me. "She showed up on the beach about ten minutes ago. When you weren't with her, we knew something must have happened."

"I'm sorry," I cried. "I know everyone was supposed to be enjoying the party. I didn't mean—"

"Brynn—Brynn, just shut up a second, okay?" he said gently. "Just relax."

I couldn't calm down. It was like he was speaking to me in a foreign language. I glanced around us carefully, realizing that we were still sitting in the middle of the woods.

My breath caught in my throat. "I want to go home," I whispered, tears trailing down my cheeks. "Please, I don't want to be in here anymore."

"Okay, okay, shh," Lucas soothed.

He straightened up from his crouched spot. Without a word, he pulled his heavy sweatshirt over his head and held it towards me. He carefully helped me get my arms through the correct sleeves. I shivered; it was warm.

Then, he gripped under my elbow and attempted to get me to my feet. I cried out the moment I put pressure on my injured ankle.

"I tripped," I told him again, by way of explanation.

He sighed deeply through his noise, obviously unbelievably frustrated. "I'll just have to carry you instead, okay? Then you don't have to walk. It'll be quicker."

I shook my head frantically, wincing as the motion made me dizzy. "No! You can't carry me; I'll be too heavy! I can walk—"

Lucas didn't give me a chance to finish my sentence. The ground disappeared from underneath me and then I was in a pair of steady, warm arms. He held me tightly against his broad chest, one arm around my back and the other under my knees.

"Don't be ridiculous," he murmured. "You hardly weigh anything."

I suddenly felt extremely bad that Lucas had been the one to find me. The poor guy was probably scared out of his wits by my crazy, irrational behaviour. We weren't overly close by any means and I was sure he probably had a lot more productive things to do than save me from the middle of the woods. I could imagine how annoyed he must be. I was beyond consolable and completely drained of energy. I was sure I wasn't very much fun to deal with.

Lucas strode through the forest silently and confidently, never hesitating on which way he was supposed to go. It was like he knew where to go without even thinking about it—like it was second nature. I realized very sadly that he must be days away from phasing.

He traveled in the only direction I hadn't gone, proving my theory that I had absolutely no navigation skills whatsoever. His fast pace left me feeling dizzy, leaving me to hide my face in his broad shoulder to keep from throwing up all over him.

As the trees began to thin out, the nausea started to subside and soon I was having a hard time keeping my eyes open. How was I so tired all of the sudden?

Lucas' arms jostled me gently, catching me mid-doze. "You can't sleep right now, Brynnie-Bear," he pleaded. "Just try and stay awake a little longer, okay? We're almost there."

The familiar nickname released all tension from my shoulders. Everyone had called me that name for as long as I could remember, but I have never heard Lucas use it before. Usually it was just the adults or my brother. It was surprising to hear it come from Lucas' mouth.

A sharp pain shot through the side of my head. I whimpered quietly, holding my hand against my forehead. "My head hurts," I cried unnecessarily.

Lucas' arms seemed to tighten around me. "I know it does," he murmured. "Just hold tight for a few more minutes, okay?"

The moment the trees disappeared behind us, I felt like I could breathe properly again. The knot in my stomach seemed to dissipate. I wasn't sure how long it had taken us to get out of the woods, but it had definitely felt like eons.

Although I expected to find us on First Beach once more, instead we were in Uncle Jared's backyard, which sidled up onto the large portion of the forest we had just emerged from. Much to my dismay, all the lights were on inside the house and a million and one people were standing in the backyard as we approached.

"I found her," Lucas yelled without a moment to spare. I shot a glare in his direction. Had he really needed to announce that so loudly?

There was a large commotion and then a warm pair of arms pulled me from Lucas'. I turned around, attempting to thank Lucas for helping me, but my vision was blocked by a bunch of bodies—people eager to make sure I was unharmed. I couldn't see him.

The person holding me gently set me on the porch swing and much to my humiliation, I had a difficult time keeping myself sitting up. I couldn't focus on anything besides the pain radiating from my skull.

"Brynn, baby," a deep voice murmured. "Where does it hurt, honey?"

Though I couldn't focus on his face, I knew that it was Dad. He sounded concerned but as my headache blared on, I could no longer seem to comprehend why he sounded so worried. What was going on? Had something happened?

"I'm sorry, Daddy," I cried, feeling disoriented.

Warm fingers brushed the tears from my cheeks—I was crying?

"You don't have anything to be sorry for," he soothed gently. "Just focus on you right now. Can you tell me where you hurt yourself?"

"I was just crying to get Emma to come back to the beach," I wailed, frantic for them to understand. "She wouldn't listen to me. I knew we weren't supposed to go into the woods but I didn't want her to get lost! I didn't know what to do! I'm _sorry_!"

"Well, I believe that story a hell of a lot more than the one I got from Emma," a voice behind me said. "Brynnie, did you hit your head, baby?"

I thought the person speaking sounded a lot like Uncle Jared, but I wasn't positive. Although it sounded like Uncle Jared, I would have thought he would have been a lot angrier than he appeared to be. Maybe it wasn't him.

"There's blood on her head right there," another voice said.

A door opened. "I called ahead to the hospital. They're waiting for you right now."

Dad nodded towards whoever had spoken. He leaned down and picked me up with little effort, holding me carefully against his chest. I clutched his grey t-shirt in my first, still completely terrified and confused with the whole situation. Who was the hospital waiting for and why? And where were we going?

"Where's Mom?" I asked as Dad buckled me into the backseat of someone's car.

Uncle Jared slid into the car, sitting to my left. It _must_ have been him talking before. He held something cold to the side of my head, putting pressure there. I pushed at his hands, but he didn't seem to notice. It was too cold.

Dad started the car and it rumbled to life noisily. "Your mom's gonna meet us there, sweetheart. She's just taking Stella to Uncle Embry's house and then she's coming. Don't worry."

Stella.

I sat up with concern. "Is Stella okay?"

Uncle Jared smoothed down my hair with his big hand. "She's totally fine, honey," he murmured. "You're the one who's hurt, remember?"

I was hurt? What was he talking about?

Dots moved in front of my eyes again, blurring my vision once more. I yawned.

"I didn't mean to," I said again. "I didn't know Emma was going to go in there. I tried—"

"No one's mad," Uncle Jared reassured me with his soft voice. "Just relax, Brynnie."

I touched my forehead, groaning. "I feel funny."

That was the last thing I could remember before the black dots expanded completely, blocking out my vision and hearing altogether.

Then I passed out.

* * *

**A cliffy…..you're welcome. Don't hate me ;) **

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